A Brother's Innocence Redone
by LuigiWife1551
Summary: On Permanent Hiatus and will be replaced.
1. A Note Came For Them, pt1

Hi! I finally decided to go ahead and re-do this fanfiction. I'm hoping that this one will make a bit more sense than before.

**Summery**: Luigi was happy to have peace and quiet...until one day when another castle appeared out of nowhere. Along with Wario , Waluigi, and Mario, he ventures into the castle to find out who Kyoshin, the mysetryious being responsible for bringing them there, really is, and what his true intentions are.

**_A/N_**: Kyoshin and any other OC's are mine, as well as the storyline. It is set two years after Luigi's Mansion.

Please Enjoy, and PLEASE R&R! Arigato Gozaimasu!

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**Chapter 1**

**A Note Came For Them pt 1**

It was during the hot, sticky summers that Mario wished he had a pool. With the weather topping temperatures as high as 100 degrees Fahrenheit, it was no wonder hardly anyone was out. Even Bowser had to get away from his scorching hot lava-pits, and went to Ice Land for a vacation.

It was also days like these that Mario enjoyed. Regardless of the heat, Luigi was often cleaning, cooking or tending to his plants and flowers in the garden, and Mario could sleep all he wanted. But besides that, he and his brother got to spend time together-something he never really did too often.

But the sleep was definitely the best part of the whole thing. It was all he wanted to do until autumn came.

And that was exactly what he did. Or at least, attempted to.

On this particular night, the heat was so hot and sweltering, Mario didn't even want to be in his own bed. He had stripped down to everything but his boxers, and he was still hot! Grumbling in annoyance, he got out of bed, and headed into the kitchen to get some ice-cream.

He was surprised when he saw Luigi sitting on the couch, eating some ice-cream and the cake from the night before. Usually, Luigi would be asleep by now, and it was nearing midnight.

"Luigi? I thought you were asleep!" Mario exclaimed as he walked into the kitchen.

Luigi chuckled to himself, hearing his brother making all sorts of noise trying to get some ice-cream. When he came out a few moments later, he sighed and plopped down next to Luigi, his bowl of ice cream in hand.

"Nope. It got too hot in my room, and I thought you were asleep myself, so I went and got me some ice cream."

Luigi nodded in agreement. Mario continued, partially annoyed by the heat. "I mean it. My room is literally _on fire_, Weege. I am so close to sleeping in the living room." He finished by shoving a big spoonful of ice cream into his mouth, and Luigi attempted to restrain a laugh at the strange sight.

Luigi set down his bowl of ice cream on the coffee table. He looked at his brother, who was still eating.

"Wait a minute...we never fixed our ACs, did we?"

Mario paued, his spoon cocked in the air. "Oohh...Mama Mia...we didn't, bro."

Luigi and Mari burst out laughing, and Mario had to think. When was the last time he'd seem him like that?

Two years...that's how long it took for him to stop worrying, to stop being so paranoid...for him not to suffer any more.

'Hopefully, this will be the end of it...' Mario thought as he watched his brother regaining his breath.

Luigi finally calmed down, and set his bowl down on their coffee table. Then he looked up at the ceiling.

"Bro? You think we're done? With King Boo?"

Mario shook his head, finishing off his ice cream. He stared in the bowl for while before answering.

"I...I don't know. I want to think we are, but...that damn thing doens't get the meaning of the word 'dead'!"

Mario then looked at his brother. "Why do you ask?"

Luigi smiled, but shook his head. "No reason."

Mario wasn't buying it, but he knew better than to pursue the matter any further. When Luigi felt ready, he would tell. Although, he sorta knew that there was something else Luigi just wouldn't show him. He wished he knew what it was.

Mario watched his younger brother head for the kitchen. Luigi washed out the dishes and turned out the light. He came and sat next to his brother, who was halfway close to sleeping.

For the next few minutes, neither brother spoke. Luigi picked up a book he had been reading and turned to his bookmarked page. Mario, feeling a lot cooler than before, yawned loudly and used Luigi as his makeshift pillow for the night.

"Weegie..." Mario mumbled out of the blue. Luigi looked at him.

"Mario?"

Mario blinked,trying to remember what he was supposed to tell him. He stared at his younger before Luigi waved his hand in front of his face and brought him back.

"Oh! Weegie, that professor guy who saved me from that crappy mansion...he called while you were out today."

Luigi froze. Now? Why now?

"E. Gadd called? When? What time? What did he say?"

Mario adjusted his self a bit more on the couch-and Luigi's shoulder-to get more comfortable as he tried to remember what the crazy old coon had told him.

"He had quite a message for you. I...I wrote it down, and left it on you dresser. I was barely listening to a word he was saying, to be honest. But..."

Luigi was getting panicky. "What? What, Mario?"

Mario yawned, moving from Luigi's shoulder and resting on the couch.

"Um...yeah...judging from his tone of voice...I think that he found another mansion somewhere in Boo Woods."

Luigi's hands started to shake, so he closed his book and put it down, having lost all interest in reading.

Luigi shot off that couch at unbelievable speed. Mario got a quick glimpe at him, the closed his eyes and drifted off.

Luigi ran into his room. Just like Mario said, there was a message written down rather fast and sloppy. Luigi could understand it, but it wasn't the handwriting that unnerved him.

_'Not again...'_ he thought as he scanned the note.

_'Luigi, _

_I am so sorry to have to trouble you again. But you need to hear me out!_

_A rather strange...entity seems to have arisen, m'boy. I don't know how I missed it, but it is here!_

_It must have formed sometime after you defeated King Boo. From what I could tell, it looks more like a castle than a mansion, and I can positively tell you one thing- no ghost inhabits that thing. How do I know that? _

_I went inside, of course, hoping to gather more rare ghosts for my gallery. I made a very huge assumption that the mansion was King Boo's second attempt to come after you boys, and I wanted to gather as much as I could on them. The minute I went in, however, I was attacked by these...beasts. Yes, I said it. Beasts. And they are not your average monsters._

_They smelled horrible, and they were flesh-eaters from what I could tell. They were sniffing out my blood. And one almost got me, too! __I ran as fast as I could out of there._

_I wanted to learn more about them, and maybe even get a visual image of them, so I went back in a few times. Nothing happened because I learned something rather quickly- they are only limited to their terrain. _

_I wanted to do some more research, but then, something else strange happened. _

_The very next day, I received a note, presumably from the person who owns that strange castle. He told me his name is Kyoshin, and that the creatures I encountered were known as Hybrids. He also said something about a Black Moon. I have no idea what he meant._

_That wasn't the only thing he said. He also said that some of the creatures that live there are ones you've fought before, Luigi. I don't know if he meant King Boo or what, but I didn't like the sound of that. _

_I deeply regret that I was unable to get much more information on this guy. But the mansion is still here, and I warn you-keep your guard up, Luigi. He'll come after you and your brother, I know it._

_You know where I am. Please, be careful, alright, m'boy?_

_From, _

_Professor E. Gadd _

_PS: He also wants the other one...what is his name...Waluigi. And Wario as well. Keep an eye out for them. Kyoshin seemed really interested in those two.'_

Luigi placed the note down, and closed his room door.

Removing his shirt, Luigi stared at himself and winced.

He had scars from his fight with Boos, and with the most deadly, Bogmire. He shuddered at the thought of having to see _him _again.

The scars from the battle with the fifty Boos was not so bad- just small nicks here and there. Luigi turned around to see his grand prize- three long, vertical lashes trailing his back. One of them was still a deep red color, while the other two healed almost entirely.

Luigi then realized something as he stared at himself.

He still never told his older brother about them. _'And I don't want him to know anytime soon.'_

He looked at those scars, smiled and whispered to himself, "I did this for my big bro."

As Luigi redressed himself, something struck him as odd.

The PS on the note said that the Kyoshin character also wanted Waluigi and Wario as well.

But what was so important that this Kyoshin wanted Waluigi and Wario and whoever else? What did they have that he wanted?

"Hybrids, revivals...what is going on?"

Luigi wanted to forget about all this, and move on with his life.

But that wasn't going to be happening anytime soon. Mario and him earned some peace and quiet, right?

_'Obviously, peace is becoming more of an understatement. Yeesh...'_

Luigi put the note up and headed out of his room. He looked at his brother, and felt himself torn.

Should he tell him? What would he say?

_'He'd probably think that I'm being a big baby, anyhow...' _

Tired, Luigi laid down on the couch opposite of Mario, watching his older brother going on about some food dream.

_'I don't know...if I should tell him...'_ he thought. Soon, unable to keep his eyes open any longer, Luigi fell into a somewhat peaceful slumber.

_'Mario...I have...to protect you. But I don't know if I can...if I can even...protect myself.'_


	2. A Note Came For Them, pt2

**Chapter 2**

**A Note Came for Them, pt 2**

Wario got out of the shower, whistling as he did. The cold shower was just what he needed to take his mind off the heat that hindered his planned treasure hunt with Waluigi. And as he and Waluigi knows, heat never really equaled a good time to tresure hunt, or even leave the house.

The overweight man hated one thing more than his arch-nemesis, and that was summer. It made him all sweaty and stinky, and he firmly believed that he still had a shot with Peach, or women in general.

Of course, it wasn't going to happen, he also figured. But it also gave him something to do besides treasure hunting.

Wario walked past his brother's room, and his keen eyes noticed that it was not only slightly ajar, but that it was remarkably...quiet. Why was that unusual?

Usually that boy would have a tool running in there like some kind of factory. Wario knew he loved bomb-building and things of that nature. He thought it strange whenever he didn't hear any noise, like now.

Wario thought about checking on on his brother, but quickly dismissed that fact when the past attempt at doing so nearly landed him in the morgue with some missing limbs. He shuddered as he thought about the bomb nearly taking him apart, and while he swore upon his life to never try that again...

"I'll give him until I'm dressed. He better be ready when I'm done!" he said, loud enough for him to be able to hear. When he still got no response, he walked next door to go and change.

A few minutes later, he strutted down the hall in his dirt-covered jeans and a shirt that read **'Man's greatest weakness is MY strength!' **He had decided while in his room that a short trip out wouldn't hurt too much.

Adjusting his knapsack, he walked up to Waluigi's door and saw that it was still the same way in which Wario found it.

Wario was losing his patience. He stood about three inches from the door and yelled as loudly as possible, trying to get his attention in some way.

"WALUIGI! Come on, before I leave you!" No response.

Now losing all patience, he took his risk, pushed the door, and stepped into his little brother's room. Right away, Wario knew something was wrong.

Something seemed out of place in there, and this little detail really struck a problem with Wario.

Waluigi was never a neat person, and more often than enough, he would see or even step on random tools on the floor.

But not in this case. Every little detail, right down to his nails, nuts and bolts were neatly put away. Wario walked over to his work station, which was clean and tidy. He checked around and in every square inch, but found nothing.

Oddly enough, he had missed a small piece of paper that seemed to be answering his questions.

Wario growled as he continued turning his brother's room upside down. When he finished, Wario stood seething for some reason.

He found nothing that told him where his brother went, not even a note.

"What, he does spring cleaning, and then leaves without telling me? The little sneak!" he growled under his breath. Deep inside his mind, though, he felt something much bigger was happening, but dismissed it quickly. Where was Waluigi ?

He stepped out of the room, and pulled the door all the way closed. It was really staring to worry Wario to a point, and he didn't understand why. Thinking that he had started treasure hunting without him, he took his keys and left to their usual rendezvous point.

When Wario got to the wooded portion of Mushroom Forest, he got out of his purple Convertible, and looked around. He was definitely in the right area, but he didn't see his brother's black Viper anywhere in sight.

Wario shrugged his shoulders. He thought he had the reason why Waluigi never showed up yet. _'Guess he got too damn preoccupied with whatever he was working on in secret. I wonder what it is...'_

He still wasn't concerned thirty minutes later when he finished planning some quick, easy routes to get him some gold. _'Waluigi has my number. If he calls, I'll tell him where I'm at.' _

Taking his map and a few sacks, he started for his first victim.

Nearly twohours and four large sacks of coins later, Wario loaded up his car. He had been rather pleased with how fast he was able to get so much money.

_'Wait til Waluigi sees this!' _

Gleaming with happiness, he started to get in his car when he realized that Waluigi was still not here.

Wario had it. He whipped out his cell phone and dialed him. The phone rang twice before a person answered. And it wasn't Waluigi.

"_Hello."_

Even Wario didn't know what to say for a minute.

"Wait...This ain't Waluigi. Who the hell is this?" Wario yelled. A small chuckle, then he gave Wario a message.

"_Wario, I know you're a busy man, so I'll make this brief. You're probably wondering why is it that I have your brother's cell phone, and where is he, am I right?"_

Although he was, Wario kept his mouth shut. He was trying not to lose his temper.

"_I thought so. Well, Waluigi is at home. He's safely in his bed...for the time being."_

The entire time he spoke, Wario tried his best to see if he knew the male on the other end. He couldn't place it at all, and wondered just who he was, and how had gotten hold on Waluigi without him realizing it.

"_I know you love to treasure hunt, Wario. And this house has some of the most vauable gems, jewels, coins, everything you want and more. And I know you can't help but want more, right? You can be even richer than that one Bowser." _Wario picked his nose, growing very bored, yet still a bit concered for his skinny brother.

It was the next thing that the caller said that caught his attention.

"_The richest man in the world can also have the princess of his dreams as well."_ Wario stopped his superstitions for a moment.

The richest man...all the gold he and Waluigi could ever want and more...Wario couldn't stop thinking of all the possibilities that ran through his mind. Waluigi could build nuclear weapons if he felt like it!

Hell, the entire Mushroom Kingdom would be his! And his arch-nemesis, Mario...he would finally be rid of him for good, and his younger brother too!

Wario was so into his fantasy, he forgot about the mysterious voice on the other end. But, once again, the caller said something that caught his attention.

The voice chuckled, and said, _"I see you are a very reasonable hunter. But first, I would check on Waluigi. He may be a little ...out of sorts, so to say."_

Wario arched his eyebrow at no one in particular, then yelled, "What the crap did you do to him? I swear, if one hair on him is harmed..."

The caller chuckled. He seemed to be getting a kick out of all this.

_"Oh, nothing. Nothing you wouldn't notice, anyway._"

One more small chuckle, and then the line went dead.

Wario stared at his phone in disbelief. So much for a perfect evening.

Who the hell was that? How had he gotten his cell phone in the first place? And then there was Waluigi.

How had he gotten to him? What did he say to get in the home?

"What is happening around here...?" Wario asked himself as he got into his car.

Waluigi was paranoid about letting anyone in his room, let alone the house. Wario knew that. But...

But his room was far too neat for Waluigi to have been in there. He hadn't cleaned it in months, and hadn't really planned on doing so.

As Wario drove, it started to piece itself together.

Waluigi isn't much in terms of weight, and even if he had fought, he would have still lost. So...that would have made it easy for him to get caught...

But that struck Wario as odd, because the night before, Wario and him were talking about a new project he had been working on. And he knew Waluigi didn't go back to sleep until at least five in the morning.

Besides that, the security alarm was set on. Unless Waluigi lost his sanity and disarmed it, there was no way anyone couldn't have gotten into the house without him knowing it!

Wario cut that thought short. _'The alarm wasn't disarmed. It was still armed when I left! So how did they get him out?'_

Wario woke up at around one-forty in the afternoon. He hadn't heard from his brother all day. Had he been missing this whole time?

Wario literally tore through the woods, driving down to his massive castle, and jumped out of his still running car.

_'Waluigi is in the house? But how?'_

Punching down his door, he ran up the steps, and down the hallway to his brother's door.

Before he punched in his brother's room door, he paused and took several deep breaths, trying to compose himself.

He knew Waluigi would ask why he looked like the cops had chased him down, and he didn't want to raise suspicion about the call.

That is, if his brother was still alive.

Wario gently pushed open the door, and let out a heavy sigh of relief.

Lying on the still-too-neat bed was Waluigi. He was still breathing, and looked the same...until he looked closer at his brother's arm.

There was a bit of blood oozing from what seemed to be a bite wound from one of the many piranha plants he kept. Wario chuckled lightly, but wondered why he hadn't seen any blood coming inside.

Wario thought hard about that last part. Whoever took Waluigi had to cross the living room, kitchen and dining room to get to the steps, so where was the blood? He couldn't have cleaned it up that fast!

_'Wait, how did they...what the hell?'_

Wario looked at the blood, then took Waluigi's arm and turned it slowly so it wouldn't hurt too much. Waluigi was still unconscious.

The wound Wario looked at were slashes, three of them, a few inches long on his left arm. He wasn't sure if they needed stitches, but from the amount of blood that was now soaked into Waluigi's shirt sleeve and sheet, it must have bled for some time.

Wario then thought of something else. He had only been gone for about three hours. That wasn't that long ago.

How had that caller gotten him here so quickly? Was he talking to him as he brought him back? And what about these wounds?

"What the hell happened?" he growled under his breath. He heard moaning, and looked down at his brother. Waluigi was trying to come around, but he kept floating in and out of conscienssess.

"Dammit, Waluigi! You die, and _I'll_ kill you, you hear me?"

As if he could hear him, Waluigi slightly nodded. Wario was worrying about the blood loss and how pale Waluigi looked. He thought about running to the bathroom to grab the kit he hid in there. Then he stole a look at the sheet.

Despite Waluigi's blood soaking through a bit, the entire thing wasn't completely soaked. Wario decided to use that instead.

He slowly shifted Waluigi's legs over, and tore a good size piece of sheet from the bed. Wario then gently rolled up Waluigi's sleeve, and wrapped the sheet around the wound. He managed to stop enough of the blood to grab he kit from the bathroom and clean it properly.

After he finished, he stood, and as he was about to leave the room when Waluigi came around.

The very first thing that hit Waluigi was sharp pain, followed by slight nausea. He had a migraine as big as his brother, and the room seemed too bright.

"Huh...wha...Where am I?" he asked, confused.

He looked around his room. As his vision started to clear, he could see a few specks of yellow, then purple.

"Wario...ugh...wha-what happened to me?" he muttered, somewhat confused.

Wario looked over his shoulder as he headed for the door. "Rest first. I'll tell you later."

Waluigi was about to sit up, but the odd pain he was feeling in his arm seemed to have shot all around him. He let out a gasp, then passed out. Wario couldn't resist shaking his head.

"Dummy. I told you to rest. We'll talk later" he said aloud.

_'As soon as I find out who you are...you are dead, you fucking bastard.'_


	3. Dreams Become Reality

**Yay! The next chapter is up at last!**

**Not much to say here. My usual depressing Mario/Luigi brotherness moment.**

**Please R&R! And enjoy! Arigato Gozamasu!**

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**Chapter 3**

**Dreams become Reality**

Luigi sat up, another night over. He took a deep breath, running a nervous hand through his frizzy hair. Looking around his living room, he caught sight of his brother still snoring away. Luigi chuckled.

_'I forgot he was sleeping here. I must have really gotten used to sleeping with him all these years...'_ he thought. He stretched, yawned, then got off the couch and went into the kitchen.

"Better start cooking before he wakes up, then." he thought with a smile. He knew his brother loved to eat just as much as he loved to sleep during the summer.

Luigi grabbed some ingredients to make breakfast. As he started to get his favorite pan, he suddenly felt winded. He grabbed the edge of the counter and stopped, bending over slightly and taking large gulps of air.

"What...what was that...?" he asked himself as the air seemed to finally circulate his lungs.

He paused, trying to control his still racing heart, looking around, hoping he didn't wake Mario. When he felt like he was safe, he raised himself back up, and got some water. After drinking it, he felt a whole lot better, but was confused as to what happened.

_'Maybe...I need to eat. I haven't been eating right lately. And Mario will, too.'_

Shaking off what had happened, he went and got started on the morning meal.

About fifteen minutes later, a still half-sleep and stumbling Mario made his way into the kitchen, and headed striaght for the coffeepot, starting it up before grabbing his mug. He leaned over Luigi's shoulder as Luigi hummed to himself.

"Morin', Weege. What'cha making?" he asked, yawning loudly in his brother's ear.

"Breakfast, you idiot." Luigi answered, laughing at Mario and shooing him away.

He kept one little thought to himself. For as long as they have lived, Luigi was used to Mario rising every morning exactly like that. And that night, when he went into the mansion, he was afraid that he would never see that again.

It was something small, but for Luigi...it was something just as important.

"Hey, bro...? You alright?" Mario asked. Luigi looked over at his brother, who was holding two steaming mugs of coffee.

Luigi shook his head and nodded, taking the green mug from his brother while finishing up his cooking. "Yeah. You want some?"

Mario nodded before hearing the Paratroopa delivering the mail for the morning. "Hold that thought. I'll be right back.

Luigi watched his brother head for the front door, and went back to his cooking.

"Hey uh, Luigi?" his brother asked as he headed back in the kitchen, his eyebrow slightly arched.

He turned. Mario looked a bit more alert than before. That mean trouble.

"Yeah? What's going on?"

Mario managed to find a chair to sit down on, taking particular interest in a blue envelope. "Hey, Weege, have you written anything to anyone lately?"

Luigi checked on the food before walking over to look at the envelope. He took one look and said, "No. Why? What's wrong?"

Mario continued to stare at that envelope. Something was seriously wrong. The only problem-he wasn't sure what _exactly_ it was that made him feel so uneasy. Someone was trying to contact them, but who? And why?

Soon, he simply decided to just throw it away. Maybe it was junk mail.

"Nothing. Maybe it's just me."

Luigi took the blue envolope, looked at it a bit longer, then went and dumped it in the recycling bin next to the door before proceeding to finish and serve breakfast.

Mario shrugged the feeling off, and continued to go through the rest of the mail. Nothing else showed as unusual. A few bills to be paid off, a letter from Peach inviting the two plumbers to a party in two weeks, and of course, _The Shroom_. Mario hated the papers, but read it for reasons Luigi refused to comprehend with.

"Bro, breakfast's ready."

Luigi made Mario's usual: scrambled eggs, a few slices of French Toast and some sausages. Luigi made himself a egg sandwich, some plain toast, and a glass of orange juice.

While they ate, Mario put down the paper, and asked Luigi what felt like doing that day.

"Hmmm...good question." he said thoughtfully as he ate. Mario bit into another piece of French Toast as he pondered the same thing.

"Okay, so you wanna go out?" Luigi was about to say yes, but then he thought of something. The heat.

"Mario, it's going to be nearly 100 degrees today. I highly doubt anyone is going to be out there."

"Hmmm...that is true."

They ate in silence some more. When neither brother could think of anything else that didn't require them to leave the house, they both agreed on staying in their cool home to watch some movies or something.

"That works. I'll probably go get us some lunch later on or something." Luigi offered.

Mario drank the last bit of his coffee, then he stood up, went to the sink and started to clean out his dishes.

"Really Weege, I wanted to play basketball today." Mario whined. Luigi eyed Mario very carefully.

If there was one thing he knew from their younger years about his older, it was that Mario hated sports, especially in the summertime heat. According to him, it was '_so damn hot, not even Bowser would want a deeper tan.' _Luigi cracked up at the time, only because he thought that was an excuse for him to stay inside all summer.

"You? Wanted to play basketball?" Luigi stated, making sure he heard right.

"Yeah. What, a plumber can't play sports, is that it?"

Luigi brought his dishes over while trying to suppress the urge to laugh like he couldn't believe. Mario saw the face Luigi made, and, after Luigi finished washing the dishes, filled a cup full of water.

"No...it's just that you...are...a bit...hmm, how do I-whoa!" Luigi turned to see his older brother, standing with a now empty mug, grinning devilishly as he said, "I am not fat."

"Oh, but you are so dead!" Luigi laughed.

Luigi grabbed the little dish-washing hose, turned the water on icy cold, then sprayed Mario with it. Mario was so surprised by how cold the water was, he shivered a little.

"How you like them mushrooms, bro?" Luigi said, grinning as well.

Mario set the cup down, then went into the basement. Luigi was about to follow him, but then stopped, curious.

_'I wonder what he went to get.'_

He got his answer when Mario came pounding up the stairs a few seconds later, and was hit was a tremendous force of water.

"What the-Really, Mario?"

Mario stood triumphantly with his water gun that their father bought them as kids. Luigi kept his somewhere in the basement as well, but he didn't want to get it.

Right now, they were acting like overgrown children. Luigi was having fun, and that was something else that mattered more to him than anything.

"I am _so_ going to get you!" Luigi declared.

Mario cocked the plastic toy as if it were a real machine gun and fired away. This time, Luigi ducked, and turned the hose on Mario, full blast. Mario was hit, and Luigi raised his hand in victory.

"Come on!"

Both men continued squirting each other with water until Mario put down the water gun. Both of them were pretty much soaked to the bone, yet they weren't done yet.

Luigi wondered why his brother put down the gun, until he saw him charging toward him. A little frightened, Luigi hit him again with water, causing Mario to slip on the hardwood floor. Luigi laughed.

"Why would you do something crazy like that, bro? You knew you were gonna fall!" he asked in between laughs.

Mario got up, and, only a few feet from his brother, tackled him to the floor.

"I. Won." he panted.

Luigi and Mario both laid on the wet floor. Mario laid his head on his little brother's chest Luigi decided to give up as well-for now. He made a mental note to grab his water gun next time.

Luigi looked around at the kitchen. The walls, floor, table and themselves were soaked. But it was so hot, Luigi didn't mind.

"Luigi."

"Hmmm?"

Mario rolled off his brother's chest and laid on his back. Both of them stared at the ceiling.

"Bro? You wanted something?"

Mario sighed. "Luigi, have you ever wondered what would happen if...if we could live out our dreams?"

Luigi blinked in confusion, but not about the question.

"Where did this come from, Mario?"

Mario chuckled. "It was weird. I was having the strangest dream last night. Me and you were inside this castle, and it all dark and stuff. I can't remember the entire thing, but...on thing stuck out in that dream, that frightened me like hell."

Luigi grew interested, and propped himself up on one elbow. "What? What was it?"

Mario felt weird saying it, considering he faced it more often that his little brother.

"Weege...I killed you. I...I shot you until you were dead...and then I ran. I ran like a coward, as far away as possible...like that was going to do me any good." he said, his voice quivering.

Luigi shook his head. He'd been so haunted by nightmares, it was something he became almost an expert on.

"Bro, it's alright. It was just a dream, wasn't it?"

Luigi couldn't help but wonder if it was actually more than that. Bur right now, he wanted to comfort Mario.

"Yeah, a freaky one. But Luigi, what if that did happen?"

"What, you killing me?"

Mario nodded, looking directly into his brother's eyes. Luigi looked at his hands for a moment.

"I wouldn't care. If it had to be by you...then I must have done something so unspeakable, I deserved Death."

Mario was a bit shocked by the way Luigi said it, as if he didn't even value his life enough to try and fight back.

But that was something Mario noticed lately. Their parents passed away at the same time, not even ten years ago. Mario and Luigi were in their early 20s around that time.

He still remembered attending their parents' funeral and watching Luigi bawling his eyes out for his mother and father. Luigi still had the necklace his father placed on his neck from birth, and something of a keepsake chest in his secret room. Mario had looked through it a couple of times, although he didn't mention that he knew anything about it. Luigi would've killed him.

After that, Luigi grew really depressed and almost quiet. Nothing interested him as much as it used to. All he did was lock himself in his room and write and cry. It took some time for Luigi to finally admit that he was still hurt by losing them.

Mario knew Luigi loved Daisy, and the two were such an adorable couple. He loved nature, and he usually had something positive to say about everything except his polar opposite.

But whenever it came to Death, t seemed that his brother was a bit...suicidal. He talked about it like he just won the lottery. It scared him. And whenever Mario tried to talk to him about it, Luigi would make a defense about himself , like and invisible wall, and change the subject.

Not this time. He knew Luigi was hiding something, and he wanted to know what it was. One way or another, he was going to find out. They knew each other too well that one couldn't hide anything from the other.

"Luigi, what's going on?"

Luigi blinked in perplexity. That was unexpected. "What do you mean?"

The two men sat up, and Mario began to remove his PJ shirt. It was starting to stick on his skin, making him really uncomfortable. He tossed it aside, then turned to face his brother, who surprisingly, hadn't taken off his own sticking shirt.

"Luigi, you're hiding something, and I know for a fact that it has something to do with that mansion." Mario stated.

Luigi had to think for a brief minute before he could answer. He needed to come up with one hell of an excuse.

"Mario, I'm not. I'm okay, honest." he said meekly.

In his mind, he thought, _'Looks like he pieced it together. Can I still tell him, though?'_

As if on cue, Mario had a sudden realization. He reached over, and in one powerful motion, tugged Luigi's shirt off, buttons and all.

And then he saw why his baby brother was so obsessed with harming himself.

Luigi's chest had little red dots and small scratches, like cat marks. They didn't look too bad, but Mario knew there was more where that came from.

"Luigi, turn around. **NOW.**" he demanded through clenched teeth.

Luigi knew better than to get his brother heated in the summer. When he was extra mad, he was a drunken warlord who had nothing else to do but attack the first person he saw. And Luigi knew he may as well get it over with.

Giving up entirely, he rotated himself around completely so Mario got a good look at his scarred back.

Mario's breath caught in his throat. Never in his life would he think that his little brother would hide something this extreme.

He reached out, and gently touched one of the three nasty wounds on his brother's back. Luigi shuddered and closed his eyes, the fingers cold against his delicate skin. He wished Mario would say something. He couldn't do it. Luigi couldn't do it anymore.

For a time, neither said anything. Then, almost unexpectedly, Mario hooked his arms around Luigi's waist, pulling him to his body.

"Luigi...dammit, why didn't you show me this sooner?" Mario muttered.

Luigi shook his head, his hand shaking slightly. The answer was simple- he didn't want to. It was bad enough he had the scars to live with. He didn't want the memory stuck in his mind, too.

"I'm sorry, bro...but I couldn't." he spoke in a hushed whisper.

It was making his head hurt just for even trying to mention it. Mario rested against Luigi's scarred back, listing to the heart held inside.

"Weege..."

Luigi looked at the ceiling, his emotions mixed. He wondered why. Why any of this had to happen. Then again, what good would wondering do? All he would do was go back to this incident, and it would make him cringe all over.

"Remember the time our parents died?" Mario asked.

Luigi answered this time. "Yeah."

Luigi closed his eyes, trying not to recall too much. "They were cold to the touch...that's all I actually remember. That and crying a lot."

His hand reached for his brother's fingers, interlacing them.

"It was weird not having them around. Even though we were like twenty-something. It was just strange not eating and visiting them. And remember Dad's romance tips?"

Luigi chuckled, and Mario was glad he was at least laughing.

"The number one rule-Be careful who you date. Although if he met Peach and Daisy, he would liked them. Mom would have loved them."

"Yeah."

Another short silence fell on them. "Luigi...after Mom and Dad died, you tried to kill yourself, right?"

Luigi slowly, quietly, nodded.

"Why?"

Luigi shrugged. "I couldn't even begin to answer that. I just...I didn't..."

Mario removed his arms from his brother, took Luigi's shoulders, and turned him around so that they were face to face again.

"Why, Luigi?" Luigi shook his head.

"I don't know! I don't..."

Mario pulled Luigi's right arm quite forcefully, and he showed Luigi the long, almost faded scars on his arm.

"I cut myself."

"I know that." Luigi was starting to wince from the power of Mario's grip. But Mario wasn't about to let go.

"You OD'd on my asprin, Luigi." Luigi's shocked face numbed the pain in his arm for a slight minute.

"How did you..." "The doctor told me a few days after I rushed you to the ER. He said that you told him what you had done, but that you didn't want me to know." Mario finally released his brother's arm.

"I wished you hadn't done that." Luigi mumbled, rubbing his arm where Mario had just gripped it.

"What, taken you to the ER?"

"Yes."

Mario took a deep breath. He had a feeling that he wasn't going to get a straight answer with the next question.

"Why not?"

Luigi seemed to have gotten pushed past his limit, and snapped.

"Maybe because I _wanted_ to be dead! Maybe because I _hate_ this damn world, and I don't _want_ to be a part of it! Or maybe because I'm sick of bringing nothing but trouble to those I love! Maybe you can live with it, but I'm _weaker_ than you, Mario! I can't do it, and I can never live with this!" he cried out, referring to his scars.

A bird flew past the open kitchen window. Luigi finally gave in, and started to cry. "I can't, Mario...I can't..."

Slowly, Mario understood what was tearing at his little brother like it was. And he did what he always has done-console him.

He should have known. Luigi's always had a delicate mind. He just needed support. And after everything he was forced to be put through, he wondered what kind of big brother he had to be to leave him to deal with something he couldn't handle on his own.

"Mario, I can't...I can't..." Luigi sobbed into his brother's chest.

"Shhh. It's alright. It's over."

Luigi had no idea why these things always had to happen to them. He wondered if it would ever truly be over. If anything would go back to normal.

"Luigi...please, stop doing this. I know you're scared...'cause I am, too." Mario quietly said, his face buried in his little brother's soft mop of dark brown hair.

Another moment of quiet allowed for everything that was just spoken to be processed between the two.

"Luigi. You feel okay?" Luigi looked up at his brother and nodded yes.

Luigi felt a bit better, that was true. As far as his parent's demise, he felt better knowing that he could let go of that last bit of anguish and begin to heal. But as far as everything else...

He still can't tell him. Not at the current time.

"Thanks Mario." Luigi relaxed against his brother's body for a moment. Soon, Luigi sighed and stood up.

"You alright?" Mario asked, following Luigi out of the kitchen. Both forgot about the still damp kitchen and their shirts.

Luigi turned, giving Mario an exhausted smile, tears still visible on his cheeks.

"Y-Yeah. I just...I need to be by myself for a little while."

After he headed upstairs and closed his door, Mario remained there. A lot was on his mind.

He told himself that Luigi had way more than what he was telling. He knew that was the case. But what point was there in forcing him to talk?

_'Luigi...how can I make this better?'_

Mario then thought back to that message he had gotten last evening. Although Luigi never told Mario what the contents actually said, he knew that it couldn't be good. A letter from ...it usually meant trouble.

And then the scars...those scars...they were still so bloody red, as if Luigi couldn't let go of the pain and fear that might. It was only one full day, but what had his brother gone through? It must have been an eternity for him...

"Idiot...I'm such an idiot! It was my fault, Weege...I let this happen. I'm sorry..." he whispered to himself.

He knew then that there was one other choice he had-talk to E. Gadd. He might know more about Luigi's whole ordeal, and hopefully, tell him more.

_'I wonder... who wants my brother? And why?'_

First thing tomorrow...he was going to find out.

* * *

**Again, please review!**

**Chapter 4 coming soon...hopefully...**

**See Ya!**

**:]**


	4. I Didn't Know That About Him

**All Right! I am getting a bit better at updating! :)**

**I think this chapter turned out better than the last one I wrote on these two, just shorter. But you decide.**

**Nothing much to say here. Enjoy! And always leave reviews! They make me happy!**

**Arigato Gozamasu!**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**I Didn't Know That About Him**

Waluigi's arm was healing well. He still couldn't do much building, but at least he was eating. Wario had begun to worry when Waluigi didn't want to eat any eggplant pizza, something Wario could never fathom the reason to like.

As for Waluigi, he was irritated that he couldn't put the finishing touches on his masterpiece, a medium-sized motion-sensor pipe-bomb. He wasn't really sure who he wanted to blow up, but he had ideas. And now everything was on hold!

A few days later, Wario came into Waluigi's room to re-dress the wound to prevent infection. They weren't open, but Wario had gotten rather paranoid of Waluigi getting sick from them.

Waluigi didn't get why. And he didn't care. This was irritating!

Cleaning those things always hurt like hell, especially since Waluigi hated the smell of the alcohol Wario used to clean the cuts, but he had gotten used to it.

What he hadn't gotten used to were the dark colored marks that looked like he drew on himself with purple-black marker. They were raised, and whenever he ran his fingers across them, they felt like speed bumps. After the first time doing that, he avoided touching those cuts at all.

While Wario went to work on that, Waluigi asked him what it was he wanted to talk to him about. He hadn't forgotten, and it was that one reason that kept him sane. He'd been curious for days, and up until now, he had opted not to ask his brother about what had happene

"What?"

Waluigi eyed his brother. "You said that you'd explain what happened to me, right? So what the hell happened?" he demanded to know.

Wario suddenly remembered what he was talking about. His only issue was that he was feeling a bit uneasy about having to explain that to him. Considering that Waluigi probably wouldn't remember or believe a thing, Wario having no clue who had called him that day, and then the kidnapping itself. He was ultra confused about how that played out.

"Wario! Dammit, will you _answer_ me? Hey!"

Wario looked at Waluigi and asked if he had any memory of what occurred that day. Maybe that would be the way to get things to click, he figured.

_'If I get him to remember at least one detail...maybe I could find out who that joker was.'_

Waluigi scratched his head, looked at the ceiling, scratched some more, then said, "Yeah. I do."

He looked at Wario, making sure that his brother was actually listening to him. When he was sure he was, Waluigi continued.

"Weird. I was working on my beautiful masterpiece. I know it had to be at least four or five in the morning. And I noticed something."

"What?"

Waluigi sat up, tossing the heavy comforters on the other side of him. He sat on the edge of his massive king-sized bed, his long legs dangling over the side of the bed.

"The security alarm was on. It wasn't tampered with, and I think I checked it before I turned in."

Waluigi stopped. Wario leaned forward slightly. "Is that all you remember?" he asked.

Waluigi shook his head no.

"I also saw his face. He...he...damn, how do I put this...?"

He fought with a few more attempts before he fianlly found what he wanted to say.

"Okay, he was pale. And his eyes were bloodshot red. I saw a bit of blue hair, but he had been wearing a black garb. All his clothes, shoes, gloves, everything was black. I...I know he was talking to me, but I think he drugged me. I felt lightheaded, and there a few times I wanted to puke."

They chuckled.

"Oh, and Wario. I think he stole your garlic before he came after me." Wario's eyebrows arched upward.

"What are you sayin?" Waluigi saw Wario's right eye twitching. If anything, that was going to be the useful thing he said all day.

_'He asked.'_ Waluigi said in his devilishy cunning mind.

To Wario, he repeated, extra slow so that he fully understood, "He. Stole. Your. Garlic."

Wario jumped up, enraged. "**WHAT?** Whatddya mean he stole my garlic?" he roared out.

"He reeked of it."

Wario growled, his meaty fist trying to find something to punch. Waluigi was laughing so hard, he needed to lay down to catch his breath. One thing about Wario-he loved garlic. He hated anyone touching it.

"Hold up, hold up!" Waluigi laughed. "I'm not done."

Wario sat down, still heated. "Stealing my garlic...the hell, man...if I ever see that piece of crap again..." he mumbled angrily under his breath.

It took him a minute to regain his composure. "Okay. Go on."

But he's still heated, Waluigi noted in his mind. He didn't want to say it, in case Wario punched his lights out.

"I think he had help."

Again, Wario remembered the phone call. He wasn't sure at the time, but he swore he heard a kid's voice in the background.

_'That means that I was correct as usual. He did have hired help.'_

"What did the other fool look like?"

Waluigi looked thoughtfully up at the ceiling. He thought for only a few seconds before he answered his questions.

"You know what? I saw his face. It was a flash, but...he was the extreme definition of pale. I mean, he was white as paint. But his eyes...they were this strange mix. He had one blue eye, about the same color as the other guy's hair, and the other one was red. And he was grinning extra widely, like he won something. Kept laughing the whole time they were getting me out the house. The minute that I stepped outside, I was unconscious, so I don't remember where he was intending to take me. On top of that, I was blindfolded, so I wouldn't be able to see even if I wanted to."

Wario knew better than to interupt Waluigi's thinking process. But so far, while Wario now knew something about what or who he was dealing with, Wario still wasn't sure who kidnapped Waluigi.

"I wasn't there too long, I think. He was talking, and then, my arm was on fire! It hurt like you couldn't believe! Then, I fell unconscious again."

That led Wario to ask the one thing he was still unable to pull out from this entire mess.

"Waluigi, how did you get in? Try to think, man!" Waluigi looked at Wario, wondering why he wanted to know that, and wondering why he sounded so...desperate.

"I guess...though my window. I don't know! I know that was how they got me out."

_'That made perfect sense! And that explains why I saw no blood coming in the kitchen...'_ he told himself. Now he at least knew how his brother had brought inside. He ruled out humans as kidnappers, because with what he knew, it just wasn't logical.

So now, he knew that they were definitely creatures, and that they were two males. Perfect.

There was a thoughtful silence, until Waluigi asked a question of his own.

"Alright. So what does this have to do with anything?" Waluigi wanted to know.

Wario jumped in surprise, nearly taken over by his thoughts. "Um...yeah."

Although Wario had a good idea of what to look for, he couldn't be too sure if what Waluigi was saying was accurate enough. Would he need more facts? He got a pretty good look at the person, and Wario knew how the person sounded like, but...it just isn't enough.

He was still trying to sort out that mess, but he didn't think Waluigi need to know about the potential person that nearly killed him. Not yet.

Waluigi eyed his brother suspiciously. Wario was uneasy, scratching his neck and looking all over the place. Now he knew he was up to something.

"Wario, what?" Wario sighed, standing up and preparing to head to his room.

"Nothin'. Listen, get some rest. We still have to go treasure lootin' tomorrow, and you owe me a day!" That quickly changed Waluigi's attention.

"What? No way am I carrying all that got damn gold myself! No the hell way!"

The two went back and forth until Wario cut the argument short, and walked out the room. He pulled the door shut, and went down to check on their safe in the basement, locking it and making sure the garage was locked tight as well. As he walked up to the throne room, he passed one of his many self-carved statues of himself, and on the forth one from the exit to the living room, noticed something that wasn't originally there.

There was a golden statue of himself that Wario had in a certain place a few weeks before. Of course, it was his home; why not allow for himself to be everywhere at once? But that wasn't what caught his attention.

Wario walked over to it. He picked it up, turning it in his hands. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with it. Looking up, Wario saw a clean cut into the wall, almost like a compartment of some kind.

Wario thought, _'I never noticed that there... wait. Did that idiot cut a hole in my wall?'_

Wario tossed the jewel-encrusted statue on the chair nearby, and peered more closely at the lines. It was the size of a box about six inches long and wide. Anger began to surge through Wario's veins. Had Waluigi really cut a hole in his wall?

Of course, Wario decided to push it. After all, it was his house.

It didn't take much effort to push the opening. Wario realized he could see inside of it, and when he looked, all he saw was...paper. Lots of paper.

"What the hell, man?"

He took one of them out, intending to crumple it up and throw it away, when he noticed writing on it. It looked like Waluigi's, alright. Wario had to admit, for failing his English class four years in a row, Waluigi had very good grammar, spelling and very neat handwriting.

It was a small piece of paper, and written on it was a little poem. Wario didn't really get it.

_'Petals rained on me that morning._

_I opened my palm to grab, to save one,_

_And it fluttered away._

_More so, it laughed as it did, saying bye._

_I stare and wonder why._

_After this and that and everything else,_

_I want to taste sweet bliss. I want to_

_See the infinite sky, and to let her know_

_I will be alright.'_

Wario stared at the paper like it was going to speak to him. At this point, he wished it did.

He was confused, and he stuck it back inside the little cubby hole. As he did, his hand brushed against something hard. And naturally, he pulled it out, trying to figure out what else his brother had in there.

Wario looked at the picture frame he pulled out. And imminently, he was stumped.

The picture frame was blank.

"Well, that's just weird. Why keep a blank frame?" he asked himself. He knew Waluigi loved to collect, but now Wario feared the boy was a little past the point of packrat.

Wario sighed, and had just put the frame back in the hole when he heard Waluigi's off-key singing coming down the hall to the throne room. Quickly, Wario put everything away-except for another poem he grabbed without looking at. He took the statue, and placed it back, then stood over to his other three on the other side. Waluigi came in, and noticed his brother admirng himself.

"Geez, fat guy. We see enough of you every day. Can you get any more concided?" he laughed.

Instantly, Wario let his discovery go for now, and shoved Waluigi to the floor, not caring if he was wounded or not.

Waluigi played damsel-in-distress. "_Oh help me, this big ugly beast is trying to eat me! Oh help!"_ he mocked in a high-pitched voice.

Wario jumped up, and Waluigi's eyes widened when he saw he was about to be body-slammed.

The loud crash ricocheted throughout the entire floor. Waluigi stood up, and looked the crater-sized hole where he was just sitting at.

"Hey dude that's your floor ,not mine." Wario shrugged.

"Ah, I'll get it fixed in the morning." That didn't surprise his brother one bit.

"So, what were you about to do?" Wario asked.

Shrugging his shoulders, Waluigi said, "Nothin'. Still can't move my arm too much, so I guess I'll go read or something."

Wario stared at Waluigi like there was something on his face.

"What?"

"You? Read Books?"

Waluigi smacked his teeth together and snickered, "At least I _can_ read."

"Shut up. That only happened once!" They both began cracking up.

"Well, I'm heading out. Can you cook with one arm?" Wario asked.

"No. There is takeout though." Wario nodded.

"Remember, that goes on _your_ credit card!" Waluigi walked past Wario, heading left into the laundry room.

"Yeah, yeah." he called. Wario rolled his eyes. "Brothers..." he mumbled as he walked out.

Grabbing his car keys, Wario went out, got into his Convertible, and drove off. But not just anywhere. He knew exactly where he wanted to go.

"I hate having to ask my rival about my own flesh and blood...but he might be the last resort I have. Damn!" he sad under his breath, banging on his steering wheel. " What is going on around here?"

Making his way over to Mario and Luigi's home, Wario began to have second doubts, asking himself if maybe he was over-exaggerating.

He shook that theory off pretty quick. No way was he about to back down now!

Wario passed by 23rd and Fungus Ave. The road grew more and more curved as Wario tried to plan out exactly how he going about his spy work. The end result: Waluigi couldn't find out until he was sure of what he was doing, and had proof to back him up.

He checked to make sure the poem or whatever it was he took from Waluigi's hiding place was safely in his pocket. But something else was still unnerving him.

Why? Why was he so uneasy? He figured that what Waluigi does is his own business, and barging into it isn't really going to be helping him. Or would it?

_'I wonder... since that bastard knew where we lived, and other external things like that...would that thing have known about Waluigi's inner thoughts?' _

It was a possibility. And if it was proven to be true, than what did he know about Wario? Besides that he liked to treasure hunt and all.

Wario wasn't worried. He had it all calculated in his mind. All he needed was for Mario to tell him what the poems meant. He knew either him or that punk brother of his would know something cheezy like this. There was no way the creature that called him would have known about the hidden compartment or the poems and blank picture frame, especially since Wario didn't find out until today.

Maybe it could help further explain why Waluigi was kidnapped and _marked,_ as Waluigi put it.

"Okay. This time, I'll be one step ahead of that freak!"

He smiled triumphantly as his purple Convertible turned left on the small, dusty, curvy road that led to another intersection. A few more rights ans lefts and red lights that seemed to take forever to turn, and he was there.

Wario got out of his car, and because of the blaring sunlight, donned his sunglasses.

"He'd better be home!" he grumbled angrily as he locked up the car.

Wario went up to the front door of 6803 Mushroom Road, and hadn't even raised his hand to bang on the door before Mario opened it. He stopped in shock of seeing his rival out on his porch on this hot morning.

"Wario? What are you doing here?" _'_

_Now or never.' _he conviced his ever-changing mind.

"Well?" Mario asked, leaning against the doorway.

Wario got straight to the point.

"I need to talk to you. _Now_."

* * *

**Okay, this is the end of Chapter 4.**

**I like where I am actually going with this (which is saying a lot).**

**I hope it wasn't too confusing, either. Reviews will always be appricated to me!**

**I'll see you soon!**


	5. Two Of A Kind

**A/N: Not too much to say here.**

**Please enjoy, and I apologize for the wait!**

**Disclaimer: Although I claim Luigi as mine. he and all other characters are Nintendo's exept for my OC's. :(**

**Arigato!**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**Two of A Kind**

Mario blinked in utter surprise. Since when has his rival ever wanted to talk to him?

He stole a look at Wario's face. Wario had taken off his glasses, and Mario noted how freakishly...neat he looked. His hair was still in place, and he wore an actual clean pair of jeans.

"Mario!" Wario yelled again, bringing said plumber back to the current time.

Before Wario had a chance to yell again, Mario's eyes narrowed and he put up his hand. Something had to be up, and Mario wanted to make sure that he wasn't about to be the victim of some nutcase joke of his.

"Wait. Where's Waluigi?" Mario asked, never taking his suspicious gaze off the older man.

Mario was certain something was up. Wario and Waluigi were never too far behind one another. Knowing him, he was probably laying in wait, set to spring whatever trap he may of carried with him.

"He's home. And he's also the reason why I came to talk to you. Please!" Mario was taken aback.

_'Wario...he actually said please more than once...he must be desperate...'_

Reluctantly, Mario stepped aside, and motioned for Wario to come in.

Wario walked past him, and Mario noted another reason why he slowly believed his overweight rival. Wario was wearing normal cologne.

Mario led Wario through the foyer, through the living room, and past the kitchen to the backyard. He told Wario to sit down, and he sat next to him. There was a moment of almost tense silence before Wario started talking.

"Mario, when I tell you this, you have to swear not to tell Waluigi."

Even Mario wasn't expecting that...random outburst. Wario was really surprising him today.

"Wait, why? What's going on?"

Mario cocked his head. Wario was looking away again, seemingly lost in space. Mario leaned forward and waved his hands in front of his rival's face to bring him back.

"Mario, does Luigi hide anything from you?"

At this point, Mario was no longer shocked or surprised by the things Wario spoke. Now, he was just concerned.

But that question he asked did have the red-clad plumber thinking about his little brother, as well as the secret he had carried around all those years.

"Yeah." he finally answered. "He often does."

"Have you...ever found out what made him do that?"

Mario leaned back, looking at Wario was a bit of astonishment.

Never had he thought about why, or lingered on it too much when he did, and to hear that type of question from Wario was...well, it was odd.

He shook his head no, then asked a question of his own.

"Is something going on between you two?"

Mario noted how Wario was past nervous. It sounded strange to be asking questions _that _deep, but to possibly be referring to himself in the process...it just wasn't Wario's style.

WArio took a few minutes to answer, and Mario knew that he hit the nail on the head.

"Y-Yeah...something like that."

Mario nodded, waiting for him to continue. Then, for just a few seconds, a flash of Wario's old self came back.

"Okay. I'm only saying this once, so listen! And you had better keep your mouth shut!"

Mario chuckled. "I won't, honest. So...what happened?"

Wario, believing Mario for the time being, began to tell his unusual story.

"The other day, when I was out treasure lootin', some weirdo called my phone. I have no idea how he got my number, nor did I ask. All I know was that his voice was...funny soundin'. There was something wrong there, and that was when I found somethin'...almost unbelievable."

"What?"

Wario actually winced at the thought of what he was going to say next, but decided that he may as well come out and say it.

"The guy had Waluigi. "

Mario's expression told Wario he caught on rather quick. "But...how did-"

Wario slammed his fist on the table. "I don't know! Waluigi remembers being carried out, but he never caught the face of that damn bastard!"

Wario then sighed. "Wait, is he back? Is he alright?" Mario pressed on.

Wario nodded. "Yeah. But...he has the strangest cut on his arm now."

"What did the cut look like?"

Wario tiled his head, thought for a second, then said, "Like...almost like claw marks. Three of 'em. Pretty deep, but they're healing."

Mario was surprised. Everything that was just spoken between them inadvertently answered another question of his. _'_

_ Well, now I know where they've been the last few days.'_

Mario watched the expression on Wario's face. He seemed confused about what was going on, too, and Mario figured that was understandable.

Mushroom Kingdom has had it's share of odd occurrences, and this would've classified as one of them...but even Mario thought that this went way out of boundary lines. Something wasn't right at all.

He then thought about what had happened to him and Luigi two years ago, and what Luigi had recently told him. they sounded oddly similar in terms of complete and utter freakiness.

Instead of thinking about that, he decided to keep Wario talking. Maybe there was something else there that he needed to put things into some kind of perspective...if that's even possible.

"Claws...huh..."

Wario nodded absently, until he realized Mario was talking to him.

"Yes! Now, lemme finish!"

Mario sat back, laughing silently to himself as he did.

"The thing that amazes me is how much Waluigi remembers. He actually remembers being taken out of wherever he was, and he remembered a lot about who took him."

Wario leaned back in the plastic chair, looking up through the Mario Bros sun umbrella. It was thin and red, and Wario could see the bright sunlight seeping through it. He thought about his next set of words before he spoke.

"I listened, and I thought I was crazy. I mean, the way he put it...it sounded absoultey insane!"

Mario looked over at him from some other distraction, and asked what he meant.

"For one...unless the guy and his strange allience had a really long ladder, those bozos flew my brother out the window, and back in. There was no blood anywhere in the house, and Waluig was bleedin' pretty badly from that wound o' his. And for two... and I lie to you not- I knew that voice."

Mario's eyebrow arched at that statement. "You knew that voice?"

Wario nodded. "Yeah. It's weird, like I heard it in a freakin dream somewhere. His voice-and I don't mean it in a gay way-it seemed almost hypnotic, like he could lure someone to his wherever his lair is."

The two fell quiet. Mario was trying to figure out if telling Wario about E. Gadd and the situation he went through was such a great plan. He wondered if what Wario just said was even the truth, but he dismissed that idea rather quickly.

_'If he really had to drive in the summertime heat to my house to talk to me, and he hates my guts, something must be up.'_ he told himself, watching Wario cleaning his nose.

And that's when Mario made up his mind.

"Wario...I think I know someone who can explain this crap to us."

Wario eyed his rival, wondering what he was up to.

"Who?" he asked suspiciously.

"A crazy old geezer named Professor E. Gadd. Luigi's pretty good friends with him."

He saw the _'dude, what-the-hell-you-mean'_ look from the corner to his glance, and said with a dismissive wave of his hand, stated, "Don't worry, he's okay. I've met the guy before. Luigi trusted him for..."

Mario nearly blurted out the King Boo story, then caught himself and said, "...well, never mind. He's trustworthy, leave it at that."

"That weirdo has friends? I'm surprised he hadn't locked himself inside a nuthouse yet." Wario commented annoyingly, drumming his fingers on the table.

Mario, hearing what Wario said, retaliated with his own wise-crack.

"The day you look like Waluigi's identical twin will be the day he'll be going anywhere." he said calmly, his eyes sporting a mischievous glint.

Wario was about to say something else, but he remembered that wasn't the reason he came here. He rolled his eyes, and took out his cell phone, the entire time coming up with all sorts of methods to get back at Mario.

"So where is this guy?" he asked, looking for his GPS navigation system app. Mario stood up and stretched.

'_Amazing what you can do with technology these days...especially Wario.'_ he thought as he watched him tinker with his cell.

"Well? Where the hell is it?" he asked again.

Mario tiltled his head in quick thought. "Uh...just past the northwest side of Boo Woods." he said.

Wario typed in 'Boo Woods' into his cell phone, and the address came up rather quickly.

"Huh." Wario commented.

Mario stood up to stretch, but stopped when he saw Wario's expression.

"What?"

"Walugi's old cabin's a few miles down from that place. Funny, I thought he was the only one who lived there." he mumbled. Mario said nothing to that. He never knew Waluigi lived anywhere outside of Wario's massive castle.

Wario's cell gave the directions rather fast. He stood up, and turned toward Mario.

"Well? Are you coming or what?"

Mario smirked. Just by the tone in his voice, he already knew just where Wario was getting at, but he wasn't ready to rumble-yet.

"Hold you horses, big boy. Let me just leave Luigi a text."

Before Wario knew it, Mario snatched Wario's phone, and handed it back exactly one and a half minutes later. Wario had to do a double-take.

'_First off, since when did Mario have a phone? And when did he learn how to type that fast?' _he thought in amazement.

He knew he had many reasons to hate Mario. This added on to his already long list of them.

Mario began to jog around to the front yard where Wario parked, and yelled, "Well, are you coming or what?"

Wario growled, and actually ran after Mario. Mario was already at the passager side of the car.

"I hate this guy." Wario mumbled angrily to himself as he and Mario got in the car. He started it up, and the duo headed for Boo Woods.

As he drove, he couldn't help but think about it. Wario remembered Boo Woods was somewhere close to where Waluigi used to have his business.

An idea was slowly forming in his mind, and he was trying to contemplate whether or not he wanted to go along with it. He pushed it in the back of his head, and just continued to drive.

_'Waluigi knew Boo Woods like the back of his hand. Finding some old guy's home can't possibly be that hard for him to remember. But if I tell him...ah, damn! Why does this always have to happen to me?_'

Wario drove through a couple of red lights, most times nearly hitting a passing car. Angrily, he honked at it, but kept going.

Mario quickly looked up. He saw Wario was driving in the opposite the direction he was supposed to go in. In fact, Mario realized that they were headed for his castle. Mario tilted his head in perplexity.

_'Wonder what's wrong with this lunatic..._' He decided not to think too much of it. Maybe seeing his little brother's rival would clarify what Wario was talking about.

_'Luigi should have gotten my text by now. I'll see him later.'_

Mario watched Wario turn onto a dirt road that headed toward his castle. And he had to think, how are earth did this incident happen to someone like Wario? Those two were usually made for causing trouble, not receiving it.

What was going on around here?

First he and Luigi get a rather random and disturbing message from E. Gadd, and now Waluigi was involved in a kidnapping stunt that left more questions than answers. Nothing was adding up!

But Mario refused to sit still. He had a feeling that all these events were connected _somehow_...he just needed to find out how.

* * *

Luigi opened his eyes, letting out a small yawn before sitting up and rubbing his eyes before he realized that he was in his bed.

Blinking to adjust to the unusually bright light, and looked around in a sleepy stupor. And that was when he remembered.

_'I told him...I wonder what he thinks about me now...'_

He still had on his somewhat damp PJ pants on, but his shirt was gone. Luigi figured Mario threw it away.

_'I told him...I finally told him...he must be disturbed,_' he thought.

Luigi looked around his room. There were a lot of things that were different now, but this...Luigi wasn't sure what was going on now...

_'How did it end up like this?_'

Luigi sighed, and he got out of bed. He took off his slightly sticking pants and tossed them in the dirty clothes bin. As he went over to his dresser to grab a shirt, his phone buzzed. He picked it up and looked at the screen.

"Huh. Text. Wonder who it's from."

Luigi opened it, and saw that Mario sent it to him.

_**"Bro, I'm running out for a little bit. I'll be back before dinner. We're still going out with Peach and Daisy, so make sure you're ready! Love ya."**_

Luigi couldn't help but let a little giggle out. Mario was always planning something.

Then again...he needed to be happy. After what he saw and heard, he _knew_ there was no way that he'd let it go. At least, not yet, anyway.

He sent Mario a text, then exited out the text and put down the cell.

"Okay...time to find a shirt..."

Luigi reached into his drawer and pulled out a green shirt. He walked in front of the mirror, turned around, and looked at his scars once more. This time around, though, he was looking on with wonder. And a bit of annoyance.

"Yeesh. That middle one should have healed by now." he commented. Shrugging, he donned on his shirt, some jean shorts, and some green sandals. He grabbed his cell and his wallet, turned off the lights and headed downstairs to get himself something to eat.

He made himself a ham sandwich and some apple juice. While he was eating, Luigi wondered what he wanted to do until Mario showed up.

"Huh...not even four yet. Knowing Bro, he wouldn't be back until later." he said aloud.

Luigi finished eating, brushed his teeth, and decided to go for a walk around Mushroom Meadows. He needed time and some quiet to think about what was happening.

"I should'nt have told Mario. This...this isn't somehing for him to be dragged into..."

Just then, Luigi had an epiphany that halted that train of thought.

"Well, that's nice! Bro forgot to tell me where we were supposed to meet! Ugh, brothers..." he complained.

As if on clue, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He checked the phone, and saw that Mario had sent him another text message.

_**'Shoot! Bro, my bad. I for got to tell you. We're going to that restaurant down 132nd and Canal Road. I'll meet you at the west entrance of Mushroom Meadows. Yeah, I know you were planning on going there!'**_

Luigi blinked in surprise before he laughed. It wasn't a secret as to where Luigi loved to go during the summertime. At least Mario knew _that._

Walking down the street to the meadow, he thought about the beautiful weather and how peaceful the meadows were every time he was there. He loved nature, so he never got bored of looking around the lovely gardens and gorgeous birds. He never noticed anything unusual whenever he came, either. It was usually uneventful.

But not today. This time was different.

Luigi reached the east entrance, and he entered the rose gardens. He stopped for a moment, admiring the scenery. Then, he ventured deeper into the meadows. And not too far from an unusually large rock, Luigi noticed something that he hadn't seen before.

There was a piece of wood that he knew didn't come from any of the surrounding trees. He walked up to it a bit cautiously, and picked it up. Then, he saw another, more larger piece. Luigi didn't get where there were coming from, until he noticed a makeshift trail leading to the opposite side of Mushroom Meadows.

"Now, what on earth...?" Luigi mused aloud as he followed the trail. He soon reached the west side of the meadows, and he saw something he never imagined he would see.

Waluigi was breaking apart something wooden in his hands, and Luigi could tell that he was at it since he came in the park. All he could really see, besides his back, was a small pile in his hands.

_'Waluigi? What's he doing here?'_

Luigi then noticed something else.

On Waluigi's left arm, from what Luigi was able to make out, were marks. He wasn't close enough to tell if they were cuts or some kind of tattoo, but he had a feeling that whatever it was, it had happened recently.

_'I wonder what happened...'_

Then, without warning, Waluigi stood up, and without so much as a turn back to see if anyone was following him, he walked even further into the meadows. Luigi had no idea where he was going. But he was going to find out.

Luigi forgot about his own troubles, and quietly followed Waluigi, his curiosity now peaked.

Waluigi headed for the west exit of Mushroom Meadows. He left, and began to walk down the street for a few minutes. Luigi had a feeling he knew where he was going, but even that didn't stop him from following him.

Once Waluigi reached the bridge that led to the entrance to Boo Woods, Luigi stopped a good distance away, watching Waluigi disapper in the darkness. Then he stood there in thought.

_'Why is he here? He doesn't have any reason to be here. Does he?'_

As he thought about it, he suddenly had an urge to follow him, even though the very thought scared Luigi to his core.

He wasn't even sure as to why he cared. He swore to himself that he would never go back there again. But he did want to know why Waluigi came here, and he put his fear aside to follow him.

"Let's go."

At the same time he decided that, he saw Waluigi emerge from the woods. Luigi was shocked by his appearance.

_'He's so...disheveled. But he wasn't in there that long!_'

Waluigi seemed almost in a daze as he wandered out almost mindlessly. Luigi feared that he would have spotted him, but he just walked right past him, completely out of it.

_'I know he saw me. What is going on with him? And where's Wario?'_

"Waluigi!" he called out. He didn't hear.

Luigi ran up to him and grabbed his wrists. Instantly, he snapped out it.

"Luigi...?" he asked in a confused state.

He was actually surprised that he called him by name. Just as quickly, Waluigi's eyes went red, and he began to go...a little off the deep end.

"Hey, nutcase. I want to know." he growled. Luigi dropped his wrist and stepped back.

"W-Want to k-k-know what?" he stuttered uneasily.

Waluigi wheeled on him, causing Luigi to topple on his rear end. He then walked up to him, crouched down to eye level, and gripped Luigi rather tightly by the shoulders.

"Dammit, Luigi! You followed me because you saw me doing something! Now what the hell did you see?" he was screaming, spit flying out of his mouth.

Luigi was terrified. Never in all his life had he ever seen Waluigi this...well, not often had he seen his rival this...riled up. He hadn't really seen much, just him throwing away some wood. And the marks.

"J-J-Just throwing away some wood!"

Luigi nearly told him about the marks, but considering Waluigi's current...episode, Luigi though it better if he didn't.

"You...LIAR!" he roared. Luigi looked up at Waluigi. And he was surprised.

That calmness that he felt when he first told Mario about his secret washed over him once more.

"What is going on?" Luigi asked him not only trying to reason with him, but to bring him back to his senses. Someone would see them soon, and that wouldn't be good in any case.

Waluigi was panting heavily over him. "Dammit...dammit, dammit!" he cursed.

Luigi let out a sigh of relief, still amazed by Waluigi's actions. Until he noticed that Waluigi was starting to waver. His eyes returned to normal, and he seemed to be under some kind of mind control for a brief stint. Then he collapsed.

Luigi stood up, and slowly made his way to him. Waluigi was completely still. He didn't even look like he was breathing, and Luigi was growing scared again.

But he sighed in relief when he saw the scrawny chest rising and falling. Luigi waited a few seconds, and when it looked like Waluigi wasn't coming to anytime soon, Luigi bent over and picked him up. Boy, was he light!

_'I wonder where he was headed. What's going on with you, Waluigi?_'

Luigi looked up, and sighed. He'd have to take the usual shortcut to Wario's castle to get him home.

A few minutes later, he felt Waluigi squirming slightly, but he didn't wake up. Luigi couldn't help but wonder what had caused his evil rival to act so...insane.

He took a hidden shortcut that led about a block away from Wario's castle. No one saw Luigi carrying his rival, so at least, Luigi wouldn't be getting an earful from Waluigi when he came around.

Luigi eventually reached the castle, and since he had no clue how he was going to get in the massive building, he opted to just let him rest on the open porch. Laying Waluigi's body down, he made sure that he was somewhat comfortable before he hurried off the property.

_'Wow...Waluigi's something else.'_

Suddenly, Luigi remembered something. Checking his watch frantically, he saw that it a little after six. He now had to go home, re-shower and change so he could get to the restaurant on time!

_'Darn...I'm beat now, and I don't want to cause a scene. Besides...I'm worried about Waluigi...' _he thought.

Luigi remembered the message that had told him, particularly the last part...

"Keep an eye out for Waluigi...Kyoshin...the castle..." he murmured to himself.

Luigi halted not even a few blocks away from the bridge. There was something in those woods, something that seemed like it was about to repeat itself unless he got right down to it.

He made up his mind, and broke off into a sprint over the bridge and into the woods.

_'I have to talk to him. Mario will understand.'_

His phone buzzed. It buzzed again. Luigi, not even looking at what he was doing, reached into his pocket and shut it off. He was going to have to explain this to Mario and the princesses later.

"I...I'm...crazy for doing this." he panted.

And Luigi ran deeper into Boo Woods, one destination in mind- E. Gadd's lab.

One way or another, Luigi was determined to put an end to this mess.

* * *

**Whew! Finished!**

**Sorry fort the wait. I hope this chapter makes some sense to you!**

**Please review, and thanks again!**


	6. Discovery

**A/N: Yay! Chapter 6 at last!**

**Sorry about it being so late! Hopefully I got it to make sense.**

**As always, R&R! Thank you for staying with me!**

**:)**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

**Discovery**

Luigi shivered as he ventured through the dark forest. It brought back memories he knew he couldn't get rid of. He didn't even remember why it was he came back.

_-flashback-_

_Luigi looked around in complete fear as he walked toward the direction of his worst nightmare. The eerie, over-sized mansion that he had won in an unknown contest seemed less desirable as he saw it._

_The only thing that Luigi's fear-stricken mind could formulate: "Where's Mario?"_

_-end flashback-_

Luigi stopped dead in his tracks and looked up at the pitch black sky. "Mario..."

He sighed as he gathered up even more courage and kept going, trying to remember how he got to E. Gadd's lab instead of remembering that horrible night.

_'Darn it. I know E. Gadd is here somewhere...'_

Luigi grew more and more agitated as he tried to clear his head and figure out where E. Gadd's lab shack was. Close to giving up, he stopped instead and took a closer look around him.

Tress were obvious. But Luigi remembered a particular tree that had two very low branches that he had constantly seen. The one that was bent to the left was the direction of E. Gadd's place.

Only one more problem remained. He had to figure out where the tree was. The forest was growing very dark, and Luigi was relying on his cellphone light to guide him.

"Okay...let's go this way", he mumbled to himself. He headed north some more, and soon, he came upon the odd-shaped tree he knew. He sighed in double relief.

The moon that had been obstructed by leaves and clouds was now finally out. There was enough light to see with that he could finally put his phone away.

Now that he knew where he needed to go, he literally ran the few miles to E. Gadd's place. Ironically, the old ghost collector was outside adjusting something on his back when Luigi stormed up to him.

"Professor! Professor!" he called.

Gadd, a little old man clueless as to who was calling him, looked around. He squinted as he watched the tall figure bounding toward him. When he saw Luigi's face coming into view, he sighed and waved back, happy to see the young man well and back to his old self since the last ghost hunting incident.

"Luigi, m'boy! What brings you here?" he asked him once Luigi caught up to him.

Luigi rested his hands on his knees, catching his breath before he tried to talk.

"E...I...I have to...to ask you something..." Luigi panted.

Gadd turned around to make sure that he had locked up the lab door, and Luigi caught sigh of a new vaccum on his back. He arched his eyebrows, but pushed that to the other end of his mind. Hopefully it wasn't what he thought it was...

"Are you going to be busy?" Luigi asked.

E. Gadd turned around at the question.

"No...why? What's wrong, Luigi?"

Luigi wondered how he was going to explain this. "Um, can we talk inside?"

E. Gadd nodded happily, and the two men headed back into the lab. Once there, E. Gadd made Luigi some tea, took off his heavy package, and the two sat down. It had already gotten cooler outside, and Luigi _knew_ was going to get it when Mario heard about this. If Mario heard about it.

"So..." E. Gadd began after taking a sip of tea, "...what did you want to talk about, m'boy?"

Luigi took a breath. It was now or never.

"Remember that message you sent me a few days ago? The one about that new castle, and those...things...Hybrids?"

"Castle, castle...Oh, yes! In fact, I was on my way there now. Why?"

Luigi looked at the feeble old man, shocked. Gadd had that twinkle in his eye that made Luigi chuckle. "Why are you going back there?"

E. Gadd chuckled. "I want to find out more about this castle. Nothing better than getting in there close up, eh?"

Luigi shook his head. Gadd tilted his head and adjusted his falling glasses.

"But back to you, Luigi. What did you want to ask me?"

Luigi sighed. Now that he knew what his friend was about to do, he wondered if he should just try and convince the old man to stop while he was ahead.

"Umm..."

"What? What, what?" Gadd persisted. Luigi smiled sheepishly.

"Well...for one, I told Mario about it. "

E. Gadd nearly spat out his tea. "You told Mario about..."

Luigi nodded. E. Gadd sighed and shook his head.

"How did he take it?"

Luigi looked up at the low ceiling of the small lab. "I...I don't really...I can't say for sure. Mario isn't one to take this kinds of things very lightly. We just...we had a long talk about...well, a lot of things, really."

Taking a sip of his nearly cold, untouched tea, he looked over at E. Gadd. "I still don't know how he feels about it now. But I really didn't want to get him involved any further than what happened that night." he explained.

E. Gadd didn't say anything for a moment. Then he asked Luigi a question.

"Did you show him?"

Luigi knew exactly what he was talking about, and his face fell a little.

"No...I...he...he was getting concerned with my...odd behavior. It was right after I got that message of yours."

Luigi looked into his cup. "The next thing I knew...me and him were in the kitchen, and he demanded to know what was going on. Honestly, Mario...he's always known, but he never wanted to pressure me about it."

Gadd nodded. "What happened?"

"Um...he kept asking about me, and I kept telling him I was fine. We were playing around with the water, and it was then that he pulled my shirt off. I was facing him, and he saw the bites. Once he did, I...I knew it was up. He demanded for me to turn around, and...the rest..." Luigi trailed off, feeling more and more ashamed for this whole mess.

E. Gadd could see that Luigi was getting upset about talking about it, so he opted not to continue, although he was curious as to what else they had been talking about.

Clearing his throat, E. Gadd said, "Well, you did good, m'boy. All we can hope for is that he can accept it."

Luigi nodded, a small smile slowly gracing his face. "Yeah. I hope so." he said softly.

Gadd laughed. "Don't worry about it, m'boy! I know he'll be there for you; he's a good sibling. But that's not what I wanted to know."

Luigi looked at the still partially confused old man. "Huh?"

"What were you doing coming out here at this time of night, and by yourself!"

Luigi laughed. He couldn't help it.

"Well, I was out for a walk. Something kept nagging at me, though."

Gadd nodded again, and Luigi looked around, still amazed that two years later, his crazy old friend was still doing something Luigi once thought he'd only see in movies.

"Nothing's changed around here. You still collect ghosts?" he said, changing the subject.

Gadd stood up and stretched, grinning like he had just won the jackpot. "Yessir! I was trying to...ah, poppycock!"

Suddenly, Gadd was up and about, looking through he extremely cluttered desk. Luigi looked at his rambling friend as he tossed things, papers and notebooks around, looking for something.

"Uh...i-if you're busy, I...I can come back, if you want." he said, standing up.

E. Gadd turned around, his glasses hanging halfway off his round face.

"No, no. I was looking to show you something, but...dang it, I lost the freakin' thing, and..."

He turned, seeing Luigi staring at him funny. Then, he chuckled nervously and said, " Ah well, I'll find it soon. What can I do for you, Luigi?"

Luigi couldn't help but chuckle at that, but went ahead and reminded him about the original conversation.

"Um...I actually wanted to know more about that message you sent me."

"Hmm? What about what now?" the little old man asked innocently.

"The castle...the message...any of that ringing a bell?" Luigi asked again, blinking in disbelief when it seemed like nothing that they had just been talking about was sinking in his head.

Gadd walked toward the far back of his lab, looked around, mumbling his ususal gibberish, and then turned back to Luigi. "What?"

Luigi had to face-palm himself. He had actually forgotten!

"Castle? Kyoshin? The message you sent me a few days ago?" Luigi reinstated. Had he really forgotten that fast?

Gadd kept looking at him, his brain scrambling to put two and two together, until it dawned on him five minutes later.

"OH! _That_ castle!" Luigi looked on in disbelief. He really had forgotten!

"Uh, yeah. You said that you saw a creature inside. Did it have any characteristics that you can physically see?"

Gadd walked over to his favorite working chair, sat down, and shook his head no.

"In fact, I was surprised I got out in one piece. The smell alone...whew! The deceased couldn't stand to be in the same area with that!"

Luigi sighed. If that was all he knew, he might not know what was wrong with Waluigi.

"Luigi? Luigi, are you okay? You look lost." Gadd noted, his head tilted to the left.

Luigi didn't know what was going to happen. But not knowing how to help someone who hates him more than life...for some odd reason, seemed to bugging him more than it should.

"Professor. I...I saw Waluigi earlier."

E. Gadd's head snapped up in shock. "The other young cricket?"

Luigi nodded, recalling the strange behavior of his enemy. "He...he looked almost in a daze. When I called out to him, he looked...crazy, almost. He kept asking me what did I see, and he kept shaking me. It was...out of character for him..."

Gadd nodded, his right hand moving at lightning speed as he took the explanation down on a spare piece of paper.

"Then what?"

Luigi thought for a moment. " I tried to convince him that the only thing I saw was him throwing some wood he had in his hand. But he kept asking me that same question. After, like a few seconds, though, he just...dropped. Fainted. I don't know why, and I didn't want to ask him lest he deny it. So I brought him back home."

E. Gadd thought about the explanation. Then, he realized something.

"Luigi, was Waluigi...injured in any way?"

Luigi's eyes widened a little, and he said, "Yeah...he had some kind of slash marks on his arm. I thought it was a strange tatoo he had gotten recently. Why do you ask?"

E. Gadd, suddenly remembering what he needed to find, literally jumped out of his chair, and ran over to his desk. He frantically began to look for his item. Luigi dodged papers and pens that were flying everywhere.

"Aha! Found it at last!" he exclaimed in happiness. Luigi adjusted his hat, wondering what was so important in that whatever he was he was holding that he had to go through all that.

"What is it?" he asked.

E. Gadd held up a blue, worn, leather-bound notebook. Some of the pages were ripped, taped and yellow, but it was still held together.

E. Gadd mentioned Luigi over to his computer. He turned it on, and opened the notebook. Luigi looked over him, and gasped when he saw the notes.

"What on Earth..."

Gadd grinned widely from ear to ear. "I told you, m'boy. I've always been fasinated with the supernatural. But these creatures...they were unlike anything I'd ever seen in my life!"

He smiled as he opened the first page of his tattered old notebook. "I wanted to see if there was anything on this Kyoshin person. So I dug up my old research notes from my years as a ghost hunter."

Gadd held up another set of notebooks, three of them bound together with a fading black ribbon. Luigi gingerly took them, now just as interested as Gadd, but just as scared, too.

"Wow. How old are these?" Luigi asked in amazement.

Gadd turned to type some information in his computer. "Oh, I don't know. Back in the sixties, fifties."

Luigi turned to Gadd, not expecting that sort of answer. "The _fifites_?"

Gadd chuckled, standing up to pat Luigi on the back before heading down the hall to the bathroom.

"Luigi, m'boy, I'm old, but I am wise." he said, his eyes shining like a sly fox about to pounce.

He headed into the bathroom, leaving a really lost Luigi.

Luigi turned the old, worn-out notebook in his hands, amazed by how old it was. Just as Gadd said, it was dated way back to the early fiftes. It looked like E. Gadd had collected pieces of random, odd newspaper clippings, entries of his ghost collecting habit, and other bits of information. Most of them looked written.

Curious, Luigi slowly undid the ribbon, and placed the second and third notebooks down. He opened the first one, the oldest one, and began to read.

_"Date: Febuary 12, 1950._

_I found my first ghost!"_

Luigi was startled by the excited feeling he felt coming from the one sentence. Then he burst out laughing.

"Well, it's his business. B-But...oh man..."

Luigi barely read the first page when Gadd came back. Sitting back down, E. Gadd turned the computer on, and sat down at it, beginning to type once again. It was quiet, save for the calming tapping of the keybord keys.

And it would've been like that, too, if E. Gadd hadn't let out a sudden yelp and stood up quickly.

"H-Huh? Professor...?" Luigi asked uneasily.

Gadd turned toward Luigi, clearly afraid and shaken. "M-M'boy...l-l-look here..."

Luigi blinked, confused. He turned to the screen, and noticed that a random message was on the screen.

_'For you, young one.'_

The screen went blank for a minute, then Luigi gasped. Something was on the screen...something he thought he wouldn't have to see again.

"Oh...crap..." he gasped.

A beast was moving like some kind of odd monkey toward what seemed to be a puppet...of Mario.

"N-No...Ma..rio...? What...?" he stuttered.

Luigi's eyes grew large as he watched th video. E. Gadd stood nearby, just as shocked, but completely silent.

On the screen, the beast was drooling, and Luigi heard munching in the background. The beast bent close to something, and Luigi clearly saw red piece of cloth hanging out of his mouth.

At some point in time, the creature partially turned to face the two. And Luigi nearly retched at the sight.

The creature looked green, and was losing parts of its face. Luigi shuddered as he could only imagine what it must have smelled like. But he continued to watch it, trying to learn something more about it, something familiar.

Suddenly, the creature turned completely around. Luigi saw that its torso was rotting away even faster, and the half of its face that wasn't falling off was, more or less, the resemblance of a Piranha plant. He had the teeth, at least, and he seemed to be gnawing on something that Luigi wished he couldn't identify.

"Oh...god..." he muttered, hands quickly flying up to his mouth in order to control the urge to barf. Gadd still said nothing.

_'Something I fought before...did he hurt Mario, too?'_ he mused to himself.

Luigi jumped when he felt someone suddenly touch his shoulder, and sighed when he saw who it was.

"Professor...where was this castle?" he asked, trying to shake the image of Mario being eaten by the thing out of his mind..

E. Gadd froze when he heard the question. It wasn't so obvious as to what he wanted to do, but...why would he? He had no idea _who _or _what _he was going to face in there!

"Wait...you're not thinking...?"

Luigi didn't really know what he was thinking. But one thing was for sure- he needed to know what it was that he was being dragged into.

Mario seemed to be wrapped up in all this, and Luigi wanted to know why. He wanted to know why their rivals were involved as well, even though he knew there was a good chance it would actually kill him this time.

"Professor...where was the castle?" Luigi asked again.

Solemnly, Gadd wrote down something on a piece of paper. He ripped out of his notebook and handed it to the green-clad plumber. Luigi took it and quickly scanned it. His eyes widened.

"Wasn't that where..."

Gadd nodded. "...yes. It's not too far from here." he finished.

_'I better hurry. But why is it so close to this lab? Even better...why didn't I see it when I was coming here?'_ he wondered as he headed for the door.

He then turned to Gadd, who had wandered off to his computer desk again. Luigi wasn't sure how handy it would be, but he figured he may as well be prepared.

"Professor,do you still have-"

Gadd nodded, and tured around in his chair to face the young plumber. "Yes I do, actually. I not only _have_ it, m'boy, but I've _upgraded_ it!" he exclaimed, pointing to the blue item he had left sitting at the doorway.

Luigi gasped. The Polergust 3000 was not the little red ghost-catching vac he had two years ago. It had gotten a complete face-lift.

The red portion of the vacuum was now a dark shade of blue, making it less able to stand out in darker rooms. It had a retractable hose and the flashlight had a much stronger beam.

The most fascinating thing that Luigi awed about was the amount of space that he could now hold. And, surprisingly, it was all lightweight and compact!

"Oh wow..." was all he could say.

E. Gadd nodded happily. "I had begun to edit the old one after I escaped that castle. I don't know how much use it will be since I don't know too much about these things. But look here, Luigi."

E. Gadd put the vacuum on, and flipped the switch. Next, he went to his kitchen and directed it to his leaky sink to suck up some water. Luigi noticed a gauge on the right side he hadn't seen before. Once it filled, E. Gadd directed Luigi to go outside.

"Watch carefully, Luigi!" he yelled, switching the vacuum on reverse.

Luigi watched as a massive blast of water not only hit, but fractured a tree, all without hardly making a sound! He was in shock.

"If you need to...I know there are plenty of elements you can use for this baby. You don't need the medals like last time." he said, removing the contraption. He handed it off to Luigi, who nodded and placed it on.

"Thank you."

There was a bit of silence. Then, E. Gadd asked for Luigi's cell phone, something Luigi hadn't seen coming. He handed it over, and they both went back inside.

Luigi watched E. Gadd typing something into his phone. After a few minutes, he handed it back, the screen flashing E. Gadd's avatar. Luigi looked baffled, and looked at the old geezer for an explanation.

"I'm not too caught up on technology these days, but I gave you my number in case of emergency. It also has a...what do you kids call it...a GPS system, of sorts. Kinda like the GameBoy Horror, in a way. But keep up to date with me, Luigi. I'll send you any information I get from you, and you can send me anything you see of value."

Luigi thanked him, closed his phone and put it away. He then asked for one more thing.

"Professor...can you...can you not tell Mario about this? Please?"

Now, E. Gadd knew better than to listen to such a crazy request. He needed to tell Mario what his younger brother was about to do!

But Luigi's expression broke down that reason rapidly. "Uh...erm...okay." Gadd sighed. "But be careful, okay?"

Luigi smiled at him. "Thank you."

With the map Gadd had drawn for him, his newly upgraded Polergust V2 on his shoulders, and about fifteen minutes of courage somehow still there, Luigi left the safety of the lab and headed for the castle.

It hadn't taken him long to find the place, since it was only a few miles away from the lab. Out of the blue, a horrible windstorm swirled around Luigi. He shivered, but forced himself to calm down.

"I...I gotta find out what's going on."

He looked up, and he almost thought about running back out of there entirely. But he knew that was no longer an option at this point.

"I need to know...I have to protect my brother."

With that, Luigi entered the strangely-shaped fortress. All he could hope for was that he knew what he was doing.

* * *

While Luigi had entered, he failed to notice that a small child lurked in the bushes, overhearing every word that was said.

_**'So this is why Master Kyoshin did that...hehehehehe! Time to begin the battle...starting with the younger brother...Luigi.'**_

And he vanished just as mysteriously.


	7. The Time to Act is Now, So Why Wait?

**Chapter 7**

**The Time To Act is Now, So Why Wait?**

Waluigi began to come around, and his attempt to sit up irritated him a bit.

He yawned, then looked around sleepily before pausing and doing a double take.

Did he...how the hell...?

How did he end up back in the house?

"How the hell did I get here?" he said aloud, angry as he got out of his bed. He marched down the hall, mumbling and cussing like a sailor.

"Dammit! What the hell just happened? And where the hell is Wario?" he screamed. He walked out of his home and headed for the garage, not caring about the cool summertime night.

"WARIO!" he called.

He didn't hear any response, and he went to the driveway to check if he was there.

It was then that Waluigi stopped, took a deep breath, and calmed himself down. He recalled that Wario might be out for a few hours, and there was a good chance he was out treasure hunting.

Annoyed and still very tired, Waluigi headed upstairs. He walked into his room, and his keen eyes caught sight of the masterpiece he never got around to finishing. That just added to his list of irritance.

"My arm's fine now, so why don't I feel like working on my bomb?" he growled under his breath. He checked the time laid back down into his bed. Still feeling bits of annoyance, he then tossed around on his side, getting more comfortable.

Just as he felt himself falling back asleep, he heard a screech, followed by a bellowing voice.

"WALUIGI! HEY, YOU HOME?"

He opened one eye, now past mad. This just wasn't his night.

Wario came upstairs, out of breath from running up the steps, and barely made it into Waluigi's room before he sat down. Waluigi sighed heavily, and sat up, wondering what was so important that he had to come up screaming like a maniac.

"Well Wario, since you had to disturb my sleep, do you wanna tell me what was so important?" he asked sarcastically.

Wario waved that aside. Then, he sat up, scratched his head, and asked his skinny brother if he was okay. And Waluigi quickly saw through his attempt to brush things aside.

"Wario, first off, as you can see"-Waluigi flexed his arm- "my arm's fine. But that's not the issue. Where were you? And why do you smell like cologne?"

Wario was too busy trying to figure out how he was going to deliver his questions without raising too much suspicion to answer, and he ignored it altogether. He still had their hated arch-rival siting in the car, and he knew that Waluigi would blow a fuse if he knew.

"Hey! Wario!"

Wario looked at his brother, quickly deciding to go with the original plan. Although he didn't think it would be so difficult.

"Waluigi, I have a question, and I need the truth."

Waluigi's eyebrow arched, and he sat up even more, beyond confused about this whole charade. Since when has Waio sounded so...concerened? Unless it was about treasure hunting...

"Whoa, whoa! What the hell are you talking about? Wario, what's goin' on?" Waluigi said.

Wario shrugged. "I don't even know, but listen. You ever seen anyone...I don't know, _weird _living near you?"

Waluigi still apparently hadn't caught on. "Near...where?"

"Boo Woods. You old working place? Anyone ever go there?"

Waluigi stared at Wario like a deer about to be run over, and Wario nearly strangled him.

"Oh my-Boy, you ever have any neighbors!" Wario snapped, thinking that Waluigi couldn't have been that idiotic!

Waluigi shook his head, rolling his eyes at the comment, and sighed.

"Now you _know_ I hate people, so even if someone did come there, I never saw 'em. But..." He hesitated, his hands on his pointy chin in thought.

"What? What?"

Waluigi nodded to himself, but Wario saw right through Waluigi's hesitation. Something was troubling him, and now that he mentioned neighbors, it was more evident.

"What is it, Waluigi?"

Waluigi's head slightly tilted. "Yeah. Yeah, I did see some weirdos around there. And they _define _weird." Waluigi murmured.

Now that he answered the first of Wario's questions, he began to listen to his older brother's list, still trying to figure out exactly why Wario needed to know all that.

_'This is going to be awhile.'_ Waluigi thought. He began to drum his fingers on the soft comforter on his bed, growing slightly impatient with his brother's runaround.

"What kind?" Wario finally started after he needed some time to think about it.

Waluigi scratched his head, then shrugged.

"I don't know, just...weird. And super annoying. Same thing with every neighbor."

Wario took a deep breath, and sat back in the chair he currently occupied, waiting for Waluigi to continue.

"I wanna say it was a boy. He had to have been a kid, and there was this strange man with him. Always wore a black thingy, even in the heat! And he was also really nosy, too. Kept trying to..."

Waluigi paused. He didn't want to let Wario know that he wrote poetry. Unbeknownst to him, Wario already knew.

Once Wario saw that he still hid something else, he still tried to pry it out of him. He felt he had a pretty good idea what it was, but he needed his brother to confirm it.

Only thing-Waluigi wasn't going for it. "Well, they was annoying. Leave it at that."

Then, before Wario could ask another question, Waluigi put a hand up to stop him, carefully eying his brother's actions. Wario, meanwhile, had never felt so nervous in all his days.

_'If what that bastard told me is true, then...ah, shit! Who the hell-?'_

Waluigi broke his thought cycle. "Wait a damn minute. Why the heck does any of this matter? Wario, what the crap is goin' on?" Waluigi demanded.

Wario was about to yell back, but if he wanted to know what happened to Waluigi, he couldn't say anything. He had to find out for himself first. And he had a feeling that his rival knew a lot more than he had been telling.

Something's about to happen, and if it has to do with Waluigi, he can't let that come to pass!

At the same time, he didn't want to let him know. He wasn't going to risk his life for that.

No. He'd have to wait. Wait until it was time.

"Well?" Waluigi snapped, louder than last time.

Wario tugged at his zigzag mustache hard, nearly pulling it off. What could he say?

"AHHHHH! Dammit! Damn it to hell!" Wario yelled at the wall.

Waluigi wasn't expecting that to be his response. He opted not to irritate the hell out of him anymore.

Wario stopped thinking for a moment, forgetting the fact that he left Mario in the car. He needed to go and talk to that guy...again.

"Wario? Are you okay?"

Wario nodded. He then took a deep breath, let it out and faced Waluigi.

Waluigi had never seen Wario so concerned and so furious before. He was going mad over something that he knew nothing about.

Waluigi had to ask himself, what was eating at him like that?

"I can't say...yet. Call it whatever you want, but you can't know about this mess. Trust me when I say, it's for your own good."

For once, Waluigi looked...sincere. Wario never saw that expression on his face before, and he couldn't seem to see what was going through his strange brother's mind.

"...Wario. Tell me. Is it about what happened to me?" he asked quietly.

Wario bit his lip, now beginning to feel uneasy himself.

"Yeah." he answered just as quietly.

_'But who was that guy? And why did he know so much about us?' _Wario thought to himself as he remembered that phone call.

Waluigi nodded, and the silence fell upon them.

Waluigi thought that if that was what it was, if that was what had Wario screaming like a madman, then he didn't have to worry. As soon as he took a nap, he had a nice plan to get back at that bastard.

It wasn't wise to mess with the Wario brothers, and Waluigi was going to make sure that whoever it was remembered that.

Wario sat silent as well. He knew what he needed to do. It was more of a matter on _how _it was gonna get done.

_'Looks like I'm making a return trip...' _he thought.

* * *

Mario sat in the still running car, not really wondering what was going on inside the castle. By now, Wario must have told him something.

But he needed to go and talk to E. Gadd, and find out exactly how Luigi got hurt like that. He wasn't sure how much good it would do, but not knowing anything at all wasn't sitting too well with him.

"If I ask him about it, he might be able to give me a clue. I just hope King Boo isn't behind this...again..." he mumbled to himself.

Sitting back against the purple upholstery of his rival's car, Mario frowned and said, "I hate ghosts...I really hate ghosts..."

* * *

_**A/N: Yay! All done!**_

_**It**_ **is** _**going to get more plot-like from here, so I hope you can be patient with me!**_

_**Thanks, and please review!**_


	8. A Brother's Fear

**Disclaimer: Don't put these up too often, but I don't own Mario and Co.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 8**

**A Brother's Fear**

Luigi felt his hand shake as he grabbed the door handle. He remembered the feeling of dread the last time he entered a dark area like that.

"I won't be afraid... I can't..." he whispered to himself as he walked inside.

Luigi slowly and quietly closed the door behind him to avoid any surprises. Then he froze, his breath in his throat.

He was amazed at how big the place was. He was standing in the foyer of the place. It was richly decorated with beautifully carved woodwork all around. There were two sets of staircases leading to another floor on Luigi's left and right, something he recognized from before, inside King Boo's mansion.

What he didn't recognize was the decorated French-Style double doors that were directly in front of him. Unlike King Boo's crazy haunted house, the doors didn't even looked like they had been barred shut. It was left unlocked, and Luigi knew right there that was a problem.

Besides that, Luigi noted how decorated they were, like someone really took the time to carve every tiny, minute detail. King Boo's place looked nothing like what he saw here.

All of a sudden, the doors unlocked themselves and swung outward, almost inviting him inside. Luigi peered down the seemingly endless hallway.

Again, it seemed just that. A pitch black, endless hallway. And once again, Luigi had to question what exactly was going on.

Suddenly, as if he wasn't creeped out enough, a random gust of cold air whooshed out to greet him. Luigi was petrified, and turned to walk out the front door.

_'No way! I can't go back there! I can't-'_

And of course, the castle decided to keep him prisoner.

The front door had quietly closed, and Luigi's heart stopped when he heard a soft click. He was now trapped in a place he already regretted coming to.

"W-W-What is this place?" he asked aloud. Staggering back to the still open French doors, he tried to figure out what his brother would do.

_'Mario...what should I do? I-I'm scared!'_

Luigi took a few deep breaths, adjusted his new vaccum and looked down the hallway again. He knew that he had another opition of checking out the upstairs, but those doors seemed a lot worse than this hallway.

So he finally made up his mind. "M-Maybe...just a peek...yeah, just a peek. N-N-Nothing more." he stuttered to himself. He took one last deep, calming breath, and shined his flashlight down the hall.

Instantly, portraits of the previous owners lit up the walls. But besides that and the bright red carpet that lined the floor, nothing seemed out of place. In fact, except for the straight direction of the hallway, it reminded Luigi of King Boo's mansion.

Luigi sighed when he saw he had nothing to fear. He was pretty sure ghosts weren't in this nut-house, but as he walked in, he kept his guard up.

Luigi headed down the hall, whistling weakly in an attempt to keep himself from turning back and running. As he walked, he couldn't help but wonder if Mario had realized he was gone. Maybe he might come looking for him.

"Nah. As smart as my bro is...Mario wouldn't know where to look." he convinced himself. He smiled.

At least Mario would never have to go through this. He was the kingdom's hero and the princess's boyfriend. On top of that, Luigi felt that he shouldn't have to depend on him so much for everything.

_'No...I have to fight my own battles. I'm not a baby anymore.' _he thought to himself.

_'I have to do this on my own.'_

As his mind lingered on his older brother's safety and about his true reasons for being there, he heard something rustling behind him. It was faint, but he wasn't taking any chances.

Quickly, he whipped around the nuzzle of the Polergust V2, shaking a little, but armed and ready. There was nothing there. He lowered the muzzle, chuckling to himself for being such a chicken.

As he turned to walk to the end of the long winding corridor, he heard another faint sound, like a thump. Once again, he whipped around, his nozzle armed and ready.

This time, he noticed a small bundle that looked out of place laying on the ground a good few feet away. It was wrapped in black cloth, and it seemed to be moving, although from Luigi's view, he wasn't exactly sure.

Holding back the urge to bolt out of there, Luigi cautiously walked up to the bundle and gently poked the bundle with his foot. Nothing happened. He sighed in relief when he reached over to pick it up.

_'Maybe it's some kind of item...or a clue?' _he mused as he stood in thought, holding the bundle a few inches away from him. He turned it around, looking at it closely, trying to figure out what it was.

In doing so, however, he let his guard drop.

And something-or someone- came up behind him.

And, quite naturally, he began to scream like mad.

"GET OFF ME!" Luigi screamed, dropping the black object to try and fight off his attacker.

The person was about his height,if not taller than him. At that point, Luigi knew he had a slight disadvantage. The person was taller, stronger, and was close to breaking his neck.

"Shhh. Shhh, Luigi. You don't wanna die so soon, do you?" a devilishly high-pitched voice hissed into his ear. Through the fading vision and hearing, he realized something was truly off about this character, but couldn't quickly put it together. His thoughts were becoming muddled.

"W...Who are...y-you?" he asked nearly breathlessly and on the urge of passing out.

"Don't worry. You'll see in time. Right now, Master Kyoshin wants you." the high-pitched voice responded in that same oddly gleeful manner. With that, Luigi felt hims body being dragged backwards...back to where he had came from.

Once he was sure that this person was someone he didn't really want to tangle with, he tried once more to get the unusually powerful, yet skinny arms off from around his neck. And once again, that failed.

"Tsk, tsk...you really have to stop that, Luigi."

But Luigi didn't hear, he didn't care. He wanted to get out of there!

Somehow, Luigi found his dangling flashlight, and after a few more seconds of fumbling with it, Luigi managed to whack the person with it. That caused the aggressor to release him, and it wasn't too happy about it. Luigi stumbled, gasping and coughing for the air he had lost, and was soon back on guard...just to be tackled rather hard into a nearby wall a few feet from the entrance to the foyer.

Luigi flew into the wall- hard as hell, as he was still wearing his vacuum- and coughed out a bit of blood before he wound up on his stomach. It stunned him for a split second. His attacker hovered over him, and Luigi struggled to get up.

"Sorry, Luigi. But you can't do that." the voice said, suddenly changing tone. It sounded more like a male, and sounded dead serious.

Luigi got a look at his attacker, and verified that was indeed a male. He was dressed in all black clothes, and had a black hood over his head. Luigi squinted slightly, and noticed little tufts of red sticking out from the hood.

The attacker reached down and picked up the plumber by the front of his overalls, lifting him to eye level. Luigi was once again surprised- and scared- when his feet no longer touched ground.

"Master Kyoshin said for you to come. And that's what you have to do."

Luigi blinked, trying to clear his sight as well as figure out who this 'Kyoshin' person was. It was then that Luigi recalled that strange message E. Gadd gave him, and he looked into the male's eyes.

They were a sharp blue color. And Luigi knew.

He found the enemy he was searching for.

_'Kyoshin...is his master? So...who is this person?'_

Luigi's eyes widened as two and two clicked into place.

_'Then...his master...he must be behind this huge fortress! But why? Why target Mario and I? What...have we ever done to him?'_

Before he could answer his own question, Luigi felt the air leave his lungs once again as the assallient threw a powerful punch to his gut. Luigi cried out in pain, but since he was still dangling in the air, he couldn't do anything to defend himself.

"Now...time to put you out." his assallient growled, voice still deep. The next thing Luigi knew, he felt the reminder of his oxygen leave him as he was it once more in his gut. He coughed, and began to see spots of darkness as his vision faded even faster than earlier.

"Ma-Mario..." Luigi whispered, feeling more and more lightheaded. Everything seemed to be mushing together as one big mass. His eyes closed, his energy dropped to zero.

"Oh Luigi...don't go. We're just about to start the show." his attacker hissed mischievously in his ear, his tone back to that same gleeful beat.

Pulling Luigi closer to his face, Luigi could barely hear what he was saying next. But one thing grabbed his attention fast.

"Oh, and don't worry. Your brother will be joining us soon!" he whispered.

Hoisting Luigi over his shoulder, he began to walk upstairs to the second floor. The last thing Luigi remembered was feeling blood rush to his head and mumbling his brother's name before he completely blacked out.

_'Ma...rio...help...m-me...'_

* * *

He wasn't sure how long he was out, but he felt sick to his stomach when he came around. Already tired from the serum, he forced himself to look around to see where he was. The first thing that hit him was the awful stench, and he knew right away he had to be in the basement.

_'King Boo's place...it smelled just the same, but...huh?'_ he questioned as he took in what he could see.

The room Luigi was being held in was small, about the size of Mario and Luigi's living room, if that. Luigi was trying to hold back the urge to puke. It seemed like Luigi was truly in the basement of this...place.

With the room dimly lit, Luigi felt like there was something else there, something that lurked in the stale darkness. He blinked a few times to see if he could locate the source.

_'Where the heck am I?'_

It was then that Luigi caught sight of something sticking out of what appared to be a dingy, once-white tarp. It was stained brown, like blood had been there for ages. Luigi leaned forward a tiny bit and siniffed in that general area.

_'Good mushrooms! That smell worse than Mario's boxers!' _Luigi gagged a bit, recoiling back for a few seconds to blink away the tears from his rapidly watering eyes. Once he succeeded, he attempted to crawl forward to prod at it. That was when he noticed something.

He was being restrained, almost. Arching his eyebrow, he tried again, to no avail.

"Now what?" Luigi mumbled. He pushed his left arm as far up as it would go, and heard a clinking noise in response.

"Ah shoot...really?" Luigi frowned when he finally put it all together.

His wrists were cuffed to chains that led to the metal floor underneath him. Pulling his arms free was virtually impossible. They'd been cuffed rather tight, and as rusty as those chains appeared to have looked, they were rather sturdy.

"What in the name of Mushrooms is going on?" he screamed to no one in particular, and then coughed. He forgot how awful the place smelled.

At that point, something squeaked painfully bad, and a dose of bright light bathed Luigi. Having been in the dark for who knew how long, the light made his eyes hurt, and he squinted to see who or what was entering the already cramped room.

However, he couldn't complain. At least fresh air was circulating through the place.

Standing in front of him was, from what Luigi could tell, a young adult. His skin was awful pale, and he seemed to thin he was almost swimming in the massive black clock he wore. Unlike his captor, this male's hood was down, and Luigi could clearly see jet black hair with dark blue tips. He was amazed at how long it was- from what he could see, it had to have been past his knee!

But it was his eyes, those fiery, almost hypnotizing red eyes, those eyes that seemed to bore right into Luigi's mind and soul, that held his gaze solely on this person's skinny face. Not even the disgusting odor could've broken the momentary trance.

_**"Hello, Luigi. I do believe I have to introduce myself."**_ the male said, voice smooth as silk, yet tinted with obvious amusement.

Something about that voice sounded oddly familiar to Luigi. He had heard it somewhere before, but was too busy trying to grasp what was happening now to piece it all together.

The male came over to a very nervous Luigi, and in one smooth motion, broke the chains and set his arms free. Luigi heard the loud clunk of his cuffs falling to the ground, and he rubbed his wrists, which were just as glad for a little air time.

_**"There. Isn't that better?"**_

Luigi looked up at his captor, who was standing with a very amused smirk on his face. And at once, everything clicked.

"N-No...no way...y-you can't be..." he stuttered, and began to fearfully scooch further away from him. The male still stood with his amused smirk, which grew a tiny bit wider.

"A-Are you...Are you Kyoshin?" Luigi asked in a near whisper.

The man chuckled eerily, and Luigi began to sweat. The stench seemed stronger, too. So was he right?

**_"Yes. I am Kyoshin. It's very nice to meet you."_**

Kyoshin's voice suddenly seemed very calm and low. He looked around the tiny box of a room they were in, and smiled before letting out a small cough. _'Maybe the smell is getting to him, too...' _Luigi thought.

After that, Kyoshin straightened up and slowly began to walk around his captured prey, never once taking his eyes of him.

_**"Luigi. Tell me, do you know why I brought you here?"**_ he said, stopping once to pick up a severed arm that seemed to have been falling out of that smelly tarp. Luigi had to force himself to hold back his vomit.

_**"Well? Do you?"**_ he repeated again.

Luigi whimpered softly, not wanting to answer. He bowed his head, and just then, he began to dry heave. The smell of whatever was in that tarp was really starting to get to him.

As he heard Kyoshin's footsteps walking around him, he mentally told himself that there was only one reason why he was wanted here. Although, once again, he chose not to answer that.

In a way, in a creepy and frightening way, this freak reminded him of Dimento, and it was scaring him to the core.

_**"Luigi, do you want the answer?"**_ Kyoshin said coolly.

Luigi looked up at him. Kyoshin's eyes shone brightly, and Luigi really felt dizzy looking in them. What was he doing?

"Why? What...do you want?" Luigi wearily asked at last, deciding to go along with his game.

_**"You're going to help me capture your brother, Luigi. And I need those other two dimwit pals of yours as well."**_

Luigi tried to shake off the cold feeling that surged through his blood veins, but he felt like he was going to pass out again. He watched the slender creature advance towards him, and all Luigi could do was stare into those same lifeless, yet hypnotizing blue eyes.

"No...Leave Mario out of this...leave him...out of it. You want me, right?" he said, his attempt at sounding strong failing miserably. At that, Kyoshin began laughing hysterically. Luigi winced, his ears suddenly extremely sensitive.

Kyoshin raised a finger and Luigi somewhat recoiled back. Slowly, almost taunting him, Kyoshin leaned forward and ran his finger down Luigi's cheek, leaving a perfect streak of red on his flawless face.

_**"Like I said before..."**_

He smiled again, the same creepy smile, and turned Luigi's head so that he was looking at him. Luigi's breath hitched in his throat. He wanted to say something, but found that he couldn't.

_**"...you are going to help me get your brother. No matter what it takes."**_

Slowly, Luigi begun to feel everything spinning. Kyoshin supported him rather gently, laying him on the cold metal ground. Luigi didn't know what had happened, but he was drifting asleep, the metal floor suddenly feeling like the warm blankets he left untouched in his room...

"...so sleepy..." he muttered, feeling darkness cloud his sight. In a few seconds, he was out once again.

Kyoshin stood over top him for a few seconds longer, then, taking the vaccum that was left at the door, turned and left.

_'This might prove to be my worthwhile after all.._.'

* * *

Mario grew more and more worried. It was already after two in the morning, and Luigi hadn't come home yet. He kept pacing his room, his cell in his hand. His battery power was running low from the number of times he called his younger sibling.

"Weege, where the crap are you?" Mario mused worriedly. He kept walking back and forth, back and forth, and nearly jumped for joy when his phone rang. He answered it, but the caller wasn't Luigi.

**_"Hello, Mario. I do believe I have something you want."_**

Mario made a face, having no idea who this was.

"Uh...who are you, again?"

_**"I have something of yours. Your brother."**_

Of course, Mario stopped. Everything around him felt like it stopped when he said that.

Did he say he had his brother?

"Who the hell are you? What have you done with Luigi!" Mario demanded. The person chuckled.

**_"My name is Kyoshin. I have your brother, Luigi. And you will do as I say."_**

His smooth voice was beginning to get under Mario's skin, but he forced himself to stay calm. Maybe this was a horrible joke...?

"Which is...what?" he asked, opting to go with it.

**_"I want you to come to my castle."_**

Mario knew his brother was in trouble, but he didn't feel too sure about showing up at a castle that he never saw, or even believed _existed_, for that matter.

"And what if I said that I think you're a crazy person and a terrible actor? I know your castle doens't exist, so stop playing around!" Mario yelled.

Kyoshin chuckled again. This time, though, it seemed so much more darker. It reminded Mario of his arch nemesis Bowser for some odd reason, and he shivered at the sheer thought.

_'Wait! Bowser...that damn jerk loved to fool us! This has to be another trap of his!'_

Mario snickered. "Bowser, I don't know what kind of magic you're using, but you might as well give up this stupid act. I know who you are, and I know you don't have my brother."

Kyoshin's grin grew even more devious. _**"Ah..."**_ he asked, seemingly shocked at the mention of the princess-stealing koopa king.

Mario's snicker slowly fell from his face as he listened to a small chuckle from Kyoshin. Shivers ran up and down the red-clad plumber's back. Something was really wrong here.

_'Who is this weirdo?'_

_**"Oh well. I didn't want to have to do this, but you leave me with no other option..." **_

Kyoshin quietly glided back in the holding cell that kept a now semi-unconscious Luigi hostage. In his hand was an active tazer.

"Wait, what are you-"

The sudden and ear-piercing scream that blasted through Mario's phone caused it to fall out of Mario's hand. Mario's heart jumped clean out of his chest, and his eyes widened.

He had never known Luigi to scream so loud. But...it was so bloodcurdling...and it made Mario's blood run cold.

"N-no way...th-that...Weegie..."

Struggling to keep his composure, he bent down and picked up the phone, his hands still shaking badly.

Kyoshin smiled to himself. He knew he had proven his point. Looking at his captive enemy, he couldn't help the small smirk that graced his face as he watched the latter struggling to stay awake.

_**"So, have I proven my point? Or do you need to hear him again?"**_ Kyoshin asked, his voice taking on a more assertive role.

"NO!" Mario sighed, taking off his cap and running a hand through matted light brown hair. He flopped down on his couch, not wanting to put Luigi through any more pain.

"...okay. Fine. I'll do as you say. What do you want?" Mario said, wanting now more than anything to rip Kyoshin's head off, but knowing that he couldn't do so just yet. Not with his baby brother's life on the line.

Kyoshin chuckled again, and Mario wanted to shove the phone down his throat in order to shut him up. But he just gritted his teeth as Kyoshin told him his demand.

"You see, I want you to come to my castle. Will you do so to save your precious brother?"

"Where are you, Kyoshin?" Mario asked.

Kyoshin seemed to enjoy hearing the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom resort to such measures. He kept the active tazer a bit away from Luigi's arm. Luigi himself was barely aware of the current situation around him.

"I said, where the hell are you?" Mario repeated again through clenched teeth, his temper about to fly.

_**"Mario, I'm right under your nose. But you'd better hurry. Because for each hour you don't show up..."**_

Mario heard Luigi screaming again, and he bit his lip in an attempt to keep himself together.

_**"...your precious little brother will pay. Hurry, now."**_

"Wait!"

Mario had to know. He needed to make sure that this wasn't a hoax. He needed to hear him.

"Let me talk to him. Luigi." he said, closing his eyes and sinking back into the couch, his anger fizzling for the time being. All this was already getting to be too much, but he could worry about that later.

_**"Aww, are those tears I hear?"** _he said, sounding so cocky and mocking that it took all of Mario's willpower not to cuss him out. It gave him all the more reason to kill him-when he found him.

"Let me talk to my baby brother!" Mario demanded.

A chuckle, then Mario heard some heavy breathing and a very faint hello.

"Luigi? Where are you? What's going on?" Mario asked. He winced at the sound of his brother's breathing, and wondered just how long had he been captured by this guy.

Luigi sounded like he had just woken up. He was groggy and disoriented, and his arm burned like mad. But hearing Mario's voice somehow put all the pain aside for just a brief moment.

"Mario...help me...I'm...I'm scared..." he whispered hoarsely, his head spinning.

"Luigi..." Mario had never heard his brother sound so weak and frightened like that. Not since they were kids. But there wasn't much he could do at the moment, except try to reassure him it was going to be okay.

"...hurts, bro...it hurts...wanna go home..." Luigi sounded like he was about to cry, and Mario felt his heart break. What had they done to him?

"Hang on, Weege. I'm coming for you, okay? Just hold on!"

Luigi whimpered quietly. It seemed the more his brother spoke, the closer he was to falling asleep. Whatever pain he felt seemed to have numbed completely. He wondered why.

"Please...get me..." Mario heard Luigi let out a soft sigh as he suddenly lost consciousness, and a faint thump as he collapsed against the wall of his cell. The phone clattered next to him.

"Luigi? Weegie, hey! Weege! Luigi!"

Kyoshin laughed, putting the phone back to his ear. He gave Mario one last reminder-

_**"Hurry now. I'll be waiting."**_

-and the line went completely dead. Mario let the phone clatter to the floor. He took a deep breath and stood up, letting silent tears slide down his face as he realized that Luigi was in some nutjob's hands.

"Oh god...Luigi..."

He felt the anger returing, and grabbing some items and putting them into a bag, left to see an old friend of theirs.

"I need to know what the hell is going on! Hang tight, Weege!"

* * *

**Yay! Finally put something up! I hope you like it! And I hope it make sense...I think it does.**

**Just to clear things up, I upgraded the Polergust 3000 to V2! It will become more clear as I move on. Luigi doesn't have it with him since Kyoshin currently has him captive.**

**So, you should R&R! They make me motivated!**

**Arigato!**

**:)**


	9. Realization

**Disclaimer: Mario and co. don't belong to me...except Luigi.**

**This is a fairly short chapter, so enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 9**

**Realization**

Groaning slightly, Luigi slowly opened his eyes. The last few hours seemed like a blur. All he could remember was talking to his older brother...and feeling something shooting through him...

_'Mario...? What...where am I now?' _

Sitting up so he could get somewhat of a glimpse of where he was, Luigi figured out one thing- in here was a lot better than before.

Granted, the rooms still reeked of death, and the floors were awfully cold. But at least there were no random bits and pieces of humans or blood...no...it was oddly empty.

Luigi reached up to rub his eyes, and that was when he got yet another pleasant surprise. His hands and feet weren't bound!

Luigi sighed happily as he rubbed his sore arms and legs. Attempting to stand was both strangely exhilarating and painfully annoying. He knew he needed to find a way out of this nuthouse he came to and hope that he would never have to see this place ever in his life again.

Luigi squinted. It looked darker than it was a few seconds ago...what on Earth...?

He leaned forward, trying to see past the random blackness in front of him, when he heard something squeak. A minute or two later, light illuminuted the cell, and Luigi blinked, recoiling back. It was _that_ bright!

"W-Who's there? Sh-show yourself!" he called, his attempt at sounding tough failing horribly.

He thought for a split second he heard footsteps, but thought nothing of it. Instead, he stayed as close to the walls as possible and tried to see past the blinding lights.

Maybe it was Mario? Maybe he'd found him while he was unconscious, and he was coming to save him!

_'Nah...no way Bro would have a clue as to where I was...and he couldn't have gotten here that fast! B-but...'_

"H-Hello...I-I-Is anyone there?" he called out again, his voice even weaker than last time. He hated the fact that the lights were still stinging his eyes.

Again, no one answered. But this time, he was sure of it. Someone had walked into the room. And they were walking closer.

Luigi backed up another two or three steps before he hit wall. His eyes were slowly adjusting, and he squinted, hoping to catch some glimpse of the person.

All Luigi could see was a tall, slender shadow moving rather slowly toward him. Luigi wasn't sure who or what it was, but he didn't want to take any chances. He huddled against the wall and clamped a hand over his mouth to keep from screaming.

Whatever or whoever it was, he was convinced...he was as good as dead.

**_'Why, is our guest still unconsious? Pity...and the fun was just about to start...'_**

Luigi said nothing, keeping his eyes closed and his body still. Maybe if he kept doing that, he'd go away.

But of course, Luigi wasn't that lucky.

Luigi felt a shadow almost hovering over him, and against his will, he opened his eyes just a crack. Directly in front of him, he could see two dark-covered legs and some dark shoes. Naturally, Luigi looked up, wondering who the person was.

Looking directly back down at him was a set of piercing blue eyes. Luigi felt his insides wanting to burst with fear.

_'H-he must...he must've been the one...who talked to Mario...but why? Who is he? And what does he want with me?'_

It was then Luigi noticed something rather odd. He couldn't, for the life of him, seem to break free from the ice blue eyes. They had him in a captive gaze, and as much as Luigi wanted to close his eyes and wish it all away, he found he had no will to do it.

For a very long time, both sets of blue eyes stared into one other. No talking, no nothing. Just stared. After a long time, the man finally spoke.

_**'Ah, I see you are awake. Excellent. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Kyoshin. As you can clearly see, I own this lovely fortress you are in.'**_

Kyoshin bent down, never breaking contact with Luigi, who seemed completely lost in the gaze. Something wasn't right, and he knew it. But what was it?

_**'And you are Luigi, younger brother to the plumber Mario, am I correct?' **_

Luigi simply nodded. He felt himself slowly breaking free from the strong gaze that was holding him captive. Finding his voice, he asked, "W-W-where am I? Who...who are you?"

Kyoshin smiled almost careigly. _**"It doesn't matter to me. I don't need you right now. I just wanted to see the infamous plumber's sibling."**_

Luigi was stumped. There was no way he captured, drugged and locked him in a room just to see what he would look like! It made no sense, and Luigi knew that.

What he couldn't figure out was what _did _he want.

Why capture him? Sure, Luigi randomly ran in there having no idea what to expect, but still...that wasn't a reason to lock him in there!

Was he after Mario? Was this a new enemy that they have never seen before, even stronger than Bowser?

Luigi shook his head, suddenly feeling dizzy, and watched as Kyoshin stood up straight. Luigi took a better look at the tall male, who was looking elsewhere in thought.

The man was pale, Luigi noticed. He was...not deathly pale, but close to wondered if he was some kind of vampire.

Then there was his hair. It was an odd bright red color, which was a severely stark comparison to his sharp blue eye color. His hair ran down to his back, and from what Luigi could see, it was tied in a neat ponytail, with longer pieces of hair framing his slender face. His outift was a simple black suit with black shoes and a blood red tie adoring his neck.

_"Such a simple outfit...and he looks so sad about something...I wonder what happened to him..." _Luigi mused.

The man, breaking his train of thought, looked back at Luigi once more before taking a small bow. **_"And now, if you'll excuse me, I have some...other matters to attend to. But don't worry. I will make sure my young assistant, Tobi, takes care of you during your stay. After all..."_**

He looked over his shoulder and winked. _**"We still have some guests arriving soon. Until next time, Luigi."**_

With that, Kyoshin walked out of the room, shutting the door shut behind him. Luigi felt the darkness enclose him once more, and he clamped his eyes shut.

_"Mario, please...please find me...and please be careful." _Luigi prayed to himself as he sat in the cold, dark cell.

He hoped Mario had a plan to get him out...because he was beginning to fear for his life. Something was gonna happen...and he had a sick feeling he knew what Kyoshin wanted.

* * *

**So that's Chapter 9. I edited it because honestly, it sucked badly. :)**

**As always, please review! They make me very happy!**

**Arigato!**

:)


	10. Just Tell Me, Jeez!

**I am so sorry for leaving this hanging! I had no clue how I wanted to contiune this, but I got something going. Again.**

**There will be many enemy OCs, just so you are forewarned. And I will be explaining things further on in the next chapter, Promise!**

**Thank you, sorry the chapter is so short, and enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 10**

**Just Tell Me, Jeez!**

Wario got up, still trying to figure out his next move. Waluigi was watching his older brother, trying to read the expression on his brother's face.

"Wario, I wanna know what the hell is going on. Why can't you tell me what's going on?" he demanded. Waluigi hated when he was left out of the dark on things, and this in particular was one of those times.

Wario sighed heavily. "I already said you need to wait until it's time! Look, I've gotta go."

That raised even more suspisions to Waluigi, and he followed his brother as Wario went downstairs, heading for the garage.

As much as this bugged him, Wario knew he needed to talk to Mario. He wasn't sure why, but Mario seemed to understand what was going on here. Quite frankly, he hated the man's guts, but he wanted to know who Kyoshin was so he can beat him senseless.

_'Yeah. Beat that sucker dead.'_

There was just one problem.

"Wario."

Wario stopped and turned. His brother was standing right behind him, arms crossed lightly across his chest, annoyance written over his usually sadistically grinning face. Wario knew he was pissed, but so was he! He knew what he was doing...he hoped... but Waluigi didn't need to worry about anything!

"I have no clue where you are going. But I am coming with you, and I am _NOT_ listening to anymore ridiculous reasons!" he stated. The tone of voice he used told Wario he was dead serious about what he was saying.

_'Damn, I wish you would.'_ Wario thought as he ignored his brother and unlocked his car.

"Trust me, you don't want to come with me." Wario stated as his brother got situated in the passager side.

"Why not?" Waluigi asked, keeping his voice even. This simply cleared any remaining suspensions that lingered in his mind. Something was up, and Wario wasn't talking.

"Because...because..."

Or at least, not yet.

"Because...what, Wario? I'm waiting." Waluigi said.

Wario was getting more and more nervous as they sat in his purple Convertible. He just wanted to leave! But with Waluigi being outright stubborn...ugh...

"I wanna know where the hell you're going, Wario!"

And Wario figured he had nothing left to lose.

"Ah, dammit! Ya wanna know where I'm going? I'm going to Mario's place, okay?" he finally blurted out, his own temper uncontrolled.

There was a tense silence, during which Waluigi simply stared at him. Had his brother finally lost his mind? With the way he'd been acting lately, he wouldn't be surprised.

"Why you going over there?" he asked, walking over to his brother.

"I have to ask him something."

Waluigi knew his brother was lying.

"Wario, what do you think I am, stupid? Quit lying. Why are you going to the dork's place?" Waluigi said, locking his side of the car and resuming to glare at Wario.

Wario didn't respond, just stuck the key in the ignition. And it was then that Waluigi then realized his brother was not kidding.

He was really going to his place? What does he know? And why won't Wario talk?

Wario shook his head, still not making eye contact. "I've told you already. Are you still coming or what?"

Waluigi grunted his response. Wario smirked a little. He liked seeing his little brother pissed.

"You coming?" Wario asked again as he started the car. Waluigi scoffed and said, "Yeah, sure, whatever."

Taking that as a yes, Wario pulled out of the garage, and took the familiar route to his arch rival's place. The entire ride, Wario chuckled under his breath as his younger brother complained about having to go the crybaby's house and talking to his over-the-top jumping older brother.

But Wario knew that Mario might just know who that...thing was that hurt Waluigi. That was a good place to start as any, he figured...but he didn't have to like it.

Once they pulled up, Wario parked, and Wario got out and walked up the front steps to Mario's house. Waluigi adamantly refused to leave the car for any reason, so he stayed and passed the time by playing the radio.

At the same time Wario made to ring the doorbell, Mario was opening the door to leave, and both stopped in shock to the other's presence.

"Wario? What are you doing here again?" Mario asked. He looked behind him and saw his skinny, grumbling brother in the car.

"You brought him?" Mario was surprised. The last person that Mario had expected to see would be him.

"_No._ He _insisted_ on coming." Wario hissed, rolling his eyes. Mario laughed, and then his expression turned serious.

"Did you tell him anything yet?" Wario shook his head.

"We need to talk." he said simply. Mario thought about it for a bit, then agreed.

"Yeah, come on."

Waluigi watched the two enter Mario's house. Once he saw the door close, he got out of the car, making sure to leave his door unlocked. Annoyed, he stomped up the steps that led to the Mario residence. He took a pin out of his pocket and picked the lock, then, without making a sound, he walked inside.

Waluigi looked around the clean little home before he halted and ducked behind a corner. In the living room, he heard his older brother and Mario having either a discussion or disagreement, whichever he would call it.

"Wario, why the hell didn't you tell him? Shouldn't he know what happened to him already?" Mario demanded.

"Because, if you must know, he wouldn't! I asked him what happened, and he said he can't remember much...except for what the joker looked like...and besides, I can't tell him what happened the day he was kidnapped, or anything! I can't risk it."

Mario looked at Wario in shock. "Since when do you care about his well-being?"

Wario looked offended at that. "Look, he is my little brother, whether I hate him or not!"

Mario shrugged, leaving the conversation at that. Waluigi remembered having that part of the conversation with him, but everything else was new.

_'So, the crybaby met the bastard, too? Now I know who's going down with my new toy...' _he thought evilly. He heard Wario speak again, and focused on that.

"Which reminds me. Where is that pansy brother of yours , anyhow?"

Waluigi leaned a little further in the room, and realized that he hadn't heard anything from Luigi since they got there. He's actually thought he was asleep.

Mario's voice lowered. "I don't know. I got a weird call from some guy earlier. He said he had him held somewhere. I think I know where it is, and in that case, I know who we should talk to."

Wario wondered if that was the same skinny son of a bitch who hurt Waluig. "I'm coming with you."

Mario looked at Wario, his eyebrow arched. "You? Come with me? Are you sick or something?"

Wario shrugged. "We can put this case to rest. If we're both looking for the same person, then we both take him out, and BAM! Case closed, life returns to normal."

Mario nodded, and the two men stood up. Just then, Waluigi decided to make his entrance.

"Hello!"

The two looked up at a angered Waluigi, who was tapping his foot and glaring at them.

"Will someone _please_ tell me what the hell is going on?" he practically yelled.

Mario looked at Wario, his expression asking _'Wasn't he supposed to be in the car?' _Wario shrugged. "He's a grown man."

Waluigi looked at one, then the other. "Well?"

"I thought ya didn't want to get out the car." Wario looked back, a smirk creeping on his face before he could stop it.

Waluigi grew tired of the exchanged looks and secrets. Any other day, he would care less about all this, but this was affecting him more than it should of for some reason, and he wanted to know why.

"See, this is why I told you to tell him!" Mario yelled.

"Well, I'm not like you, pasta boy!" Wario retorted.

Mario rolled his eyes, deciding to deal with him later. He looked at Waluigi, and attempted to explain it as simply as possible. "Well, you see..."

Wario cut him off, walking toward the door. "Let's go. We'll tell you when we get to whereever it is we're going."

Waluigi sighed heavily. Obviously, no one was going to tell him anything, so he figured, why not? "_Fine!"_

Mario walked out behind all of them, and once all three were situated in his car, Mario told Wario to drive to Boo Woods.

"Why the- yeah...why the hell are we going there?" Wario and Waluigi asked at the same time.

Mario smiled. "We need to see a friend of me and my brother."


	11. The Beginning at Last

**Finally! After being so lazy for so long, I've finally finished editing the first ten chapters I posted up! Now this story can continue! Hopefully, at a faster speed than before! :P The title...ehhh... I ran out of ideas... **

**Anyway, enjoy! And thank you for being patient with me and reading this story! :) **

* * *

**Chapter 11**

**The Beginning at Last**

Wario, Mario and Waluigi drove in silence for ten minutes. During which, Mario never told them who exactly they were going to meet, or why the person was taking up residence at Boo Woods. Waluigi was surprised that _anyone_ besides him used to live there.

"Alright. Take the next left here." Mario directed, pointing down the road. The creepy, dark and dense woods were slowly coming into view, and Waluigi reminised about his years living there. He missed the silence he woke up to every morning, the dreary, dark nights that most people would hate to be in. It felt so...right, coming back here.

But _not_ for that reason.

"Ughhhhhh! Are we freakin' there yet?" Waluigi grunted, clearly annoyed that this was even happening. Mario chuckled.

"Almost. Alright, Wario, park here." Mario directed, pointing to a spot close to the northeast entrance of the woods. Wario parked, turned off the ignation and the three exited the vehicle. Just then, Mario's phone rang. Mario looked at the caller ID.

"Who on...hold on...Wario, wait!" Mario yelled to the two talking brothers who had already started heading into the woods. They halted and turned to look at the red-clad plumber, Waluigi glaring at Mario with a 'I'm-gonna-kill-you' look. Mario ignored it and answered.

"Hello?"

_"Ahh, so I see you heeded my warning."_

Mario's expression changed quickly, and even Waluigi couldn't believe it. It looked so cold, like whoever was on the other end ws gonna feel something like he never felt before.

"Where the hell...is my brother, Kyoshin?" Mario hissed angrily, teeth gritted. Kyoshin's calm chuckle was really making Mario's blood boil. Wario, curious as to why Mario looked like murder was on the brain, walked over to him as Mario uttered his last threat over the phone.

"If you so much as harm one hair on his head, I swear to you, I will kill you. Do you hear me? Ti ucciderò, fottuto bastardo." Mario growled over the phone.

Wario paused, the death mask that Mario wore over his face enough to actually make him fear for his life.

A chuckle, and then the smooth voice told issued his own warning. "_Watashi wa, Mario no go tōchaku o matte iru sa remasu. Anata ga kyū ga shikashi, aruiwa, anata no otōto wa, o shiharai itadakimasu."_

For the first time ever in his life, Mario was actually thankful he took Japanese in high school.

"Io ci sarò."

Mario snapped his phone shut just as Wario shook off his apparent shock. He saw Mario's shoulders shaking in anger, and placed a husky, yet strangely gentle hand on his shoulder.

"What was that? What happened?" Wario asked in an usuallly gentle voice. Mario sighed in frustration before controlling his shaking.

"It's a long story...but we need to find E. Gadd now. Lives are at stake, Wario."

Wario dropped his hand and cocked his head. "Uh...who?"

Mario chuckled at Wario's facial expression, turning to catch upp to Waluigi, who had gotten tired of calling the two, just for his calls to fall on deaf ears. "Come on, your brother's gonna be lost."

Wario scoffed, "Please! That boy practically drew a freakin' map inside his head when it comes to this creepy place! WALUIGI!" he boomed into the woods. Mario rolled his eyes.

_'Yep, he's back. Wario...you are so loud...'_

But Mario couldn't get the thought of Luigi out of his mind. He hoped he was holding up...he was going to find him...

_'Weege, just hang on for me. Big Brother's on his way, okay? Stay strong...please...'_

* * *

**Meanwhile...**

Luigi moaned in pain as he weakly lifted his suddenly heavy arms, only for them to drop like a ton of bricks on the groud. He wasn't about to try that again.

He hurt.

How long was he even in here? He'd lost track. For the past few...days? Weeks? Whatever it was...he didn't even know anymore...

But he knew he was going to die if he couldn't find a way out of here. He just wished he knew who Kyoshin was, what he wanted with a weakling like him...

_'I wonder... is that why Mario hasn't come for me yet...? I'm...always getting into these messes...'_

Luigi felt a shiver run down his nearly nude body. Except for his boxers, he was naked, and that wasn't working well with the tempeture he sat in. He was sure those burns on his arms were started to get infected from the dirt he was forced to live in...and his leg was red for some reason...

Luigi coughed, and when he looked at his hand, he saw a perfect puddle of red. Blood...

"Oh god..." he whispered horsely. He figured, with all the screaming he'd been doing, but this was bad..._really bad._

Luigi huddled into a tighter ball in a pathetic attempt to keep what body heat he had to him. He can't doubt his brother now. Mario was going to find him...he was going to find him and beat the person who did this to him and they would go home...together.

"B-Bro...h-hurry...please hurry..." he pleaded quietly. His eyes slipped closed.

_'Please...I...don't think I'll hold...out any...more...'_

* * *

**And here's Chapter 11! Sorry it's so short after being away so long!  
**

**Thank you all for reading, and please leave me a review! :D**


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